


Transformers No World For Tomorrow

by serindarkwolf09



Series: Serin Darkwolf's Transformers [1]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Inappropriate Humor, Mild Language, Violence, dark themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 21:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 245,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1956390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serindarkwolf09/pseuds/serindarkwolf09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An Autobot who betrayed Optimus Prime and her best friend shows up again, being hunted by those who she conspired with, The Decepticons. For what purpose, only Sam and Mikaela and the Autobots can wonder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been moved from Fanfiction.net, so just to let any readers know that if you have seen this story on ff.net, you will know that it hasn't been stolen or anything.

Before the war on the young planet, Earth, our world had onced lived in harmony. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, and some for evil. The war began that ravaged our world until it was consumed by dead and many Automatrons were destroyed. Death and Destruction was what was left behind every battle. Countless lives of Autobots and Decepticons was destroyed. There had been many lost on both sides, it was unbearable.

But there had been a terrible betrayal as well that costed many lives of my people, including my most trusted and beloved companion. A betrayal that broke the hearts of many.

-Optimus Prime


	2. Prologue: Betrayal

It was unbearable to be living the way they were.

Most of the inhabitance of Cybertron had been destroyed by the wraith of war, death and destruction. Hundreds, maybe thousands had lost their lives in the heat of battle between good and evil. And it just left behind many in sorrow, grief, and some in anger. Many of the Cybertronians were tired of fighting but it was all they could do to achieve their goals.

For the Autobots, they wanted to protect what was right and good.

For the Decepticons, they wanted to destroy the Autobots, believing that they were only trying to hold back what Cybertron really could be. An all powerful race that could rule the entire Galaxy.

But the war never seemed to cease as both sides fought each other hard and long. The battles grew long and everlasting and it was starting to discourage many of the Autobots of their hopes of peace. There had been some doubts of course, but none of the Autobots would ever leave the side of the proud and noble leader, Optimus Prime. They knew that he was their only hope of sanity and peace. They knew that it had to be him who helped them achieve peace and prosperity.

The only problem was the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron.

Everyone knew how powerful Megatron really was but they knew how strong and determined Optimus was. Quite a few, if not all, of the Autobots would never follow anyone else other than Optimus. They were sure that he would save them from the Decepticons and they would help him save the entire Galaxy from Megatron if they had to. However, not all things went the way that was planned for the Autobots. Everyone knew how the Decepticons would do anything to make sure they destroyed Optimus Prime. Even send in an infiltrator.

It was not too long after a long, tiring battle against the Decepticons. A number of Autobots had been defeated and destroyed and many had been injured in the war. Quite a few were so worn out from the battles that it was almost impossible to keep a positive attitude.

The Autobot base was hidden in a very deep canyon where it was safe to say that the Decepticons had a very hard time find their enemies. Optimus Prime had chosen this place with a number of his greatest comrades for a reason, knowing that it was the safest place for his people. He knew that Megatron wouldn't come looking for them right now after the battle they had had. Many of the Decepticons had been destroyed and gravely injured like the Autobots. So it would be a fool's errand to start something with their numbers so low because of the injured.

The Great Autobot Leader himself was slowly walking through the injured and weary, trying to give them words of comfort. He spoke soothingly to young ones who were frightened and were starting to lose all hope of winning the terrible war. He spoke gentle words to them, reassuring them that everything would be okay. He kept as much hope as he could, knowing that if he ever lost the hope that the Autobots needed, his people would lose their hope entirely. And he knew that if he lost his hope, there was no saving his people. He had to keep up his chin as much as he could, no matter what happened. Even if it was a lost cause. He had to keep his people's spirits up during the terrible war.

Glancing around through the many injured Autobots, Optimus Prime let out a low humming sigh as he watched his medical officer, Ratchet and another called Red Alert tend to some of the wounded. They were working as best as they could to repair their soldiers and some they had grave looks on their faces. Optimus knew that some of his people would not make it.

Moving on, his eyes met a female Autobot's, Elita One, and he smiled in the way a giant robot alien could. Elita was the love of his life and they had been mates for some time now. She helped him as best as she could as one of the Commanders of the Autobots. She supported him very well and was a favorite among many of the Autobots. Most of the young Bots looked up to her. Optimus knew that if anything happened to her, there would massive grieving. Which, was why Optimus made a note to protect her as much as he could.

Letting his eyes travel on, he looked a pair of young Autobots leaning back to back, talking in low voices. Seeing those two, he smiled.

The two young ones in particular, as everyone knew, were always together and they hardly ever left each other's sides. They fought by each other's sides, they rested by each other, they were always together. They were the best of friends and it was amazing how well connected they were. Many of the Autobots knew it was only a matter of time before something changed in their relationship with each other.

Their names were Bumblebee and Spitfire.

Bumblebee was a young male Autobot who served as one of Optimus Prime's Espionage officers, and a pretty good one. He hardly ever got caught by the Decepticons. He could blend pretty well with the terrain. He had served Optimus for a number of years, along side with his best friend.

Spitfire was a young female Autobot, serving as one of the Valkyrie Officers as well as Espionage officer like Bee, a scout. Yet she was one of the top spies the Autobots had. She was even a little better than Bumblebee and very deadly with a blaster cannon and an electro spear. Not many wanted to mess around with her and certainly many of the male Autobots didn't tease or taunt Bumblebee around her. Even though she was the female out of the two best friends, she was very protective over him, as he was over her. She just took it more literately than he did. She also looked up to Optimus like a father, like most. But with her, Optimus Prime was her father, not literately but she felt that he was. He had always been gentle with her during the wars and had protected her many times. But there were just those times where her faith faltered because of the war.

There had recently been a scare dealing with Spitfire during the last battle the Autobots had with the Decepticons. During the dreadful battle, she had vanished from Bumblebee's side and had gone missing for nearly 12 hours before she reappeared, looking very exhausted and worn out but she looked safe enough. She hadn't been in a good mood when she returned, going quiet for a number of hours until Bee managed to cheer her up again. She was still rather quiet though, looking somewhat languished. No one really knew why, but they could only guess that it was the war getting to her. It was that way for everyone.

However, Spitfire was being quiet around Bumblebee too and that wasn't really liked her. She usually engaged herself into a good conversation with him. And it made Bumblebee wonder what was wrong with her. He had been eyeing lately after she returned, looking at her with concern.

"Spitfire, did something happen during the battle?" Bumblebee spoke up finally after a long silence of resting against her.

The female Autobot lift her head before turning slightly to look over her shoulder at him. She was quiet for a moment before forcing a metallic smile and shaking her head as she leaned her metal shoulder against his. "No. I told you what happened, Bee. There was an explosion and I blacked out from it. I don't remember too much what happened but when I came to, I immediately headed back here." She told him.

Bumblebee stared at her for a minute before smiling back at her and lightly pushing her with his own shoulder, making a light clink. "I'm just glad you're okay, Spit. I was worried about you when you disappeared. I thought you might have been captured or killed."

"Heh." Spitfire hummed before pushing him right back. "If I was captured or killed, who'd keep you out of trouble, you little tin can."

Both of the friends laughed gently with one another, light pushing one another and trying to find a little fun. It helped some of the others a little seeing that not all was lost. It especially made Optimus smile and shake his head as he watched the two play around. He was just glad that the two still found some time to enjoy their selves. It sure helped the positive attitude around the Autobot base. He figured that was what most of his Autobots needed to perk up after their terrible battle.

Hearing movement, Optimus turned to see Elita walk over with another one of his men, a Spy by the name of Mirage. Mirage was one of his best men in the entire Autobot army and he worked well with their Communications officer, Blaster. He was practically the only one who could work with the tiny officer. He was with Mirage now, actually. The small Autobot was sitting on Mirage's shoulder. The two Autobots, the Commander and the Spy moved over to Optimus and looked around at the mess surrounding them. They felt the weight of the war starting to press down on them hard but it was Autobots like Bumblebee and Spitfire that kept them going.

"Any trouble?" Optimus asked, looking at Mirage and Blaster.

Both Autobots shook their heads as they looked at their proud leader. They were actually very relieved that there was no trouble at all right now anyway. "None yet, sir. But Blaster's keeping a look out. He's been scanning the area and the skies for any Decepticons. So far, there's nothing yet. But who knows how long that will last." The Autobot Spy told Optimus.

Optimus shook his head as he looked over at Bee and Spitfire again, watching them as they quietly laughed and talked with one another. Shaking his head again, the Autobot leader looked up into the sky. "Just keep up the good work and stay positive, Mirage. The war should end soon. In time, we will be living in peace and prosperity again. Just look at Bumblebee and Spitfire for one. As long as they are together, they keep up their hopes. It's our young ones like them that we should watch carefully. They are probably the hope we're searching for, Mirage. As long as we keep up our hopes and follow our dreams, and we fight together, we will succeed in securing our marvelous future." he told his Spy officer.

Mirage merely glanced over at the two young Autobots interacting with one another before forcing a smile and shaking his head as he looked at Optimus again. "I don't think I'll ever understand those two. During a war like the one we are in, I can't see how those two can keep smiling and acting like that."

"Hmm." Elita hummed before resting a hand on Optimus' large metallic shoulder as she looked right into Mirage's eyes. "They have each other and that's all they need, Mirage. They fight for each other as fast friends. They find hope within each other and their comrades." She told him.

Merely shrugging, Mirage turned and started making his way back to his post. "I will try to follow Bumblebee and Spitfire's example then, sir, ma-am. And I will make sure the others do too." He reassured them then was off.

Both Optimus and Elita watched him go before looking at each other. They smiled gently as they linked their skeletal metal hands together and looked around. They knew that they would fight side by side as long as they could and save the future of Cybertron. It was the only way of doing things. Fighting side by side and trying to save what they could of the good. It was all they could do.

There was a light clink within Spitfire's metallic chest and it seemed to cause her a little discomfort, for she reached up and placed a hand over her heart core. She held in a low groan as she doubled over a bit. She felt the sharp tinge of pain again before shaking it off. However, it had caught Bee's attention, making him look at her with worry. He placed a hand onto her shoulder, bending over to see her better. "Spitfire? Are you all right? Are you injured?" He asked worriedly.

Shaking her head, Spitfire tried to smile at him. "No, no. I'm fine." She reassured him before looking away from him and looking off towards the rocky cliffs, almost as if she was searching for something.

For a long moment, both friends were quiet as one looked at her with concern while she just tried to keep her eyes adverted away from his. But after a long moment of silence, Spitfire made a pained look before forcing away again as she turned back to Bumblebee. Smiling, she wrapped a skeletal hand around his and stood up, lightly pulling him to his own feet. "Bee, I just remembered something. I saw something very interesting on the outskirts of the base and I want to show it to you." She told him.

Frowning, Bee tilted his head to the side. "What, now? What is it?" He asked taking a few steps after her.

Spitfire just kept smiling as she lightly pulled at him and led him away from the base. She only held up a hand as if telling him not ask just yet. She merely glanced around and saw a few of the other Autobots glanced after them but they didn't make any move to follow them. So with a shrug, she pulled Bee after her towards a rocky path.

Together, the two Autobot friends began climbing the path, moving further and further away from the base. And as they walked, Bee kept glancing over his shoulder back at the base, wondering why they were wandering away from it. He wasn't sure where Spitfire was taking them at all and he wasn't entirely sure if he liked it. Turning to look back at Spitfire, he lightly pulled back, still holding her metal hand. "Spit, where are we going? What is it that you wanted to show me?" He asked, confused.

Spitfire didn't answer but clung tighter on his hand and began picking up her speed. Soon enough, they were nearly jogging further away from the base camp.

"Spitfire! Where are we going?" Bumblebee asked again as he noticed they were moving too far away now. He finally planted his feet down and forced Spitfire to stop. He gave her a confused but determined look to let her know that he wasn't going any farther until she explained what they were doing.

Knowing that, Spitfire gave him a pleading look as she lightly pulled at his hand trying to get him to keep going but he shook his head at her, letting her know that he wasn't moving. Sighing, she lowered her head and looked away from him. Her eyes trailed back to where the base camp was, giving it a sorrowful look. Then she had to turn away, pulling her hand out of Bee's. "Bee...I've..." She stopped herself. "I hope you will forgive me someday. But I've done something terrible."

Blinking only once in surprise, Bumblebee then grabbed her arm and lightly made her turn back to him. "What? What did you do, Spitfire? What happened? Was it when you went missing?" He asked with concern.

Lowering her head and turning it so that her best friend couldn't see her anymore, she dipped her metal head into a nod. She didn't know what she could tell him without breaking down a little. This was going to be very hard for her to explain to Bumblebee. But she had to try and make him understand. "I had to do it. They were going to kill me, Bee. And you. They...they told me that if I didn't do what they told me..."

Something dawned on Bumblebee and his eyes grew wider as he started to get an idea of what she was talking about. He slowly dropped his hand and gave her a wide eyed look. "Spitfire...what did you do?" He asked uneasily.

Suddenly there was a loud screech in the air, something that they were both familiar with. It was a Decepticon Battle Cry. Followed by the screech, there was a deafening explosion, making both whirl around and looked back towards the Autobot base. Something had exploded at the base, causing fire and smoke to shoot up into the sky. From where they were, both could see the Decepticons were now attacking their base.

"NO!" Bumblebee gasped before taking a few steps back the way they had come as if he was going to bolt right back to the base.

However, Spitfire lashed out and caught his wrist, holding him back, looking frantic. She knew that he was about to go back and she couldn't let him. She knew that if he did, They would destroy him. "Bumblebee! No, wait! You can't go back! It's too late for them! They will kill you! Then all that I have done would be for nothing! Please just come with me!" She begged him.

Turning sharply, Bumblebee gave her a look of shock and hurt. He looked as if he just realized it. He knew that Spitfire had done something terrible and unforgivable. "Spit? What did you do?! You sold us out?!" He demanded sounding pained.

"I had to, Bee! They were going to kill me!" Spitfire told him, just as painfully. "During the battle, it was that explosion! It knocked me out! When I came to, Megatron was standing over me with his Decepticons! They told me that if I didn't do it, they would kill me! They just want Optimus! They told me that if I gave them Optimus Prime, I could live and you could live! I was doing it to save...!" She was saying.

Shaking his head, Bumblebee stepped back away from her, his hand reached up and covering his heart core. He felt so betrayed by her right now. He couldn't believe that she did this. "Spitfire, you sold them Optimus?! How could you do that?! He's like a father to us! He's protected us and the rest! He protected you! And you sold him out! Why?!" He asked painfully.

"Because I didn't want to die, Bee!" Spitfire cried out, her hands clasping each other now in front of her. "I was scared! I was almost killed by Megatron! He was going to kill me if I didn't do it! I want to live, Bee! Don't you?! I did this to save you! You're my best friend!"

Slowly, Bumblebee stepped back away from her, looking even more pained. He felt broken by her words. "Betrayal, Spitfire, is not the way to live! Optimus has done everything for us! He's nearly died protecting us numerous times! He's always saved us from danger! By killing him and the others, it won't solve anything! We have to go back and save him! He needs us!" He motioned for her to follow and even started turning back to run. He, however, took only a few steps before looking back at her, noting that she hadn't moved. "Spitfire! Come on! The Autobots needs us!"

Staring painfully at him, Spitfire shook her head as she took her own step back away from him. "I...I can't, Bee. I can't do this anymore. I can't fight and know that we will die. I have no choice." She told him before holding up her hand towards him. "Please, just come with me. Forget Optimus Prime and the Autobots. We'll form our own army and we will take our revenge against the Decepticons, avenging Optimus' death."

There was a short pause before Bee shook his head and gave her the most betrayed look he could. He knew he couldn't go with her and leave the Autobots to die. "...Spitfire...how could you do this? They are our friends. I...I can't let them die. I can't let Optimus Prime die." He told her, pained.

Spitfire stared at him and if a giant alien robot could cry, she would be a waterfall of tears. Shaking her head, she took another step back away from him before slightly turning her body away from her. "I'm...I'm sorry, Bee! I am so sorry!" She cried out before she turned sharply. She quickly transformed into her Cybertronian car form and sped off away from him, leaving him standing there hurt and betrayed.

For only a long moment, Bumblebee stood there, horrified and shocked by Spitfire's betrayal. He couldn't believe she had done this. He couldn't believe she would betray the Autobots to the Decepticons. More or less, betrayed him. After all they had been through together, she had betrayed him, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots. He was hurt and betrayed by her and he didn't know what to do. However, an explosion far from behind him brought him out of his stupor, causing him to whirl around and look back at the base. He frowned seriously. He would grieve later. Right now, the Autobots needed him. Clicking loudly, Bee quickly transformed and sped back towards the base as fast as he could. He would not let his comrades die alone.

 

The attack on the base came too fast that no one even had the chance to intercept the first devastating blows before the Autobots immediately reacted. It had been pretty quiet at first until there came that awful screech in the air, making many sit up abruptly before looking sharply up into the sky. At the time of the screech, Mirage had jerked around with Blaster making loud beeps and screeches of his own. "Optimus Prime! Decepticons!" He yelled as his arm quickly shifted into his blaster cannon.

Then came the explosions.

High above, aerial Decepticons dove down and began firing upon the mountain side. Many Autobots had gotten hit on the first strike and some died immediately while others quickly dove for shelter. Aerial Autobots shifted into their transformations before blasting into the sky to counter attack the Decepticons.

"Autobots! Proceed to counter attack! Ratchet! Red Alert! Move those who can not fight to safety immediately!" Optimus boomed as he reached up and yanked out his large metallic sword and rushed forward to intercept an attacking Decepticon. He began slashing through the enemy quickly. He glanced off to the side to see Elita fighting along side with him, taking charge of the Valkyrie Autobots. He only prayed that they were careful fighting their enemies. Of course, seeing Megatron suddenly appear, he yanked his attention away from his mate and charged the Decepticon Leader. "Megatron!"

"PRIME!" Megatron roared right back before charging at him.

The battle was long and hard and many had fallen. It had relieved many when Bumblebee showed up and helped fight off the Decepticons. They didn't really have time to show their happiness. They had a battle to win at the moment. The fight raged on until more than half Autobots and Decepticons fell. By the end of it, the Deceptions had no choice but the retreat after Megatron had been wounded terribly by Optimus' blade. Things had not gone the way the Decepticons had hoped so they didn't have a choice.

After the fight, many Autobots collapsed to the ground, weary and wounded. Ratchet was frantically moving through the numerous injured trying to see to their needs. Unfortunately, Red Alert had fallen too. So there wasn't much that Ratchet could do but work hard and fast to save the Autobots.

Unfortunately, one of the fallen had been Elita One.

Optimus Prime was at her side, holding her tightly against her and making a terrible sound that not many would ever think they'd hear come from their leader. Everyone stood around him and felt the same grief he was feeling. Especially the Valkyries, the female Autobots who followed Elita One and practically worshipped her. Everyone stared at her fallen form with pain and grief. Bumblebee was one of those in the far back, head bowed in grief for two different reasons.

"How did they find us?" An Autobot named Bluestreak asked, looking around. He, like many, was still in shock that the Deceptions had managed to find their base. "How did Megatron and the Decepticons know where to find us?"

No one spoke for a long time before Optimus lowered Elita's body down onto the ground and he stood up with a serious look on his face. They all knew he was not taking the losses very well but was fighting to keep up his face in front of everyone. He knew that this attack had become a nasty blow for everyone in the Autobots army. They had lost many warriors in this fight, including many young ones. And even a great Commander like Elita One. This was almost a fatal blow to what hope the Autobots held. "I do not know how the Decepticons found us," The Great Leader said, his voice serious. "But we will not let this go. We lost many comrades and loved ones to them as it is. Megatron had made the opportunity of attacking us right after a earlier fight. He took it as an advantage at the time of our weakness. We will avenge our fallen comrades and we will stop the Decepticons." His fists balled up tightly as he looked down at Elita almost painfully but fought to keep a brave face. "We will fight back!"

Many of the Autobots nodded with their own determined looks and some even shouted their approval of Optimus' words. They were with him all the way. They would stand behind him as he led the next attack against the Decepticons. But there was still some questioning about how the Decepticons found out about them.

Slowly, Bumblebee moved forward, his head dipped down very low. "Optimus Prime, sir." He spoke just barely loud enough for everyone to hear and many turned to look at him.

Including Optimus Prime.

"Bumblebee." The Leader spoke before frowning and looking around when he didn't notice Spitfire with the young Autobot. He had never seen the two apart unless it was on different missions. And she wasn't certainly any where to be seen. He frowned with concern as he looked through the other Autobots before looking back at Bumblebee. "Bee, where's Spitfire?" He asked, worried.

The young Autobot kept his eyes adverted away from Optimus but looked sadder. He looked as if he was in deep pain. He knew that he had to tell them what he knew. No matter how much it was killing him, himself. "Optimus Prime, sir," He began quietly as he took a few uneasy steps towards the Autobot leader. "It was...It was Spitfire. She...she betrayed us. She told the Decepticons where we were." He said those painful words.

Of course, everyone that heard burst into murmurs of surprise and shock. Optimus Prime, like all, was stunned by the news and even stepped back with alarm. "What?" He asked. "Are you sure, Bumblebee? You're absolutely sure that it was Spitfire who betrayed us?"

Bumblebee's head hung lower and his shoulders fell just as low. "She told me herself. She tried to coax me to leave with her so that I didn't fight. She said she had no choice but to betray us. But when I wouldn't go with her, she left. She ran. But she told me that she betrayed our position to save her own life from the Decepticons." He told them.

"Traitor!" Some Autobots hissed angrily.

"That Spitfire! I knew she was no good!" Another exclaimed.

Bumblebee's head turned sharply and glared at the one who said that. But Optimus Prime quickly placed his hand on his shoulder and held up his other hand for everyone's silence. When the Autobots respected his wishes, he looked sympathetically at Bumblebee, whose head hung again in grief. He lightly patted the young Autobot's shoulder before dropping his hand. "I'm sorry, Bumblebee. But we lost a lot of Autobots because of Spitfire's betrayal. Forced or not. We lost many. I'm afraid we have to count her as a Decepticon now."

"I know." Bumblebee murmured his eyes closing and he turned away from Optimus Prime, heading somewhere to grieve to himself for now.

Sighing, Optimus looked around at those still standing and alive. He didn't want to do it but he knew he had no choice. There had been too many fatalities due to the betrayal. "Autobots, our former comrade, Spitfire, is now an enemy. From now on, if anyone finds her, she is to be arrested and the right punishment will be bestowed on her. That punishment can only be death. Spitfire is a traitor and for her betrayal, we will not hesitate to avenge the fallen she has caused. That is my order." He announced, and to his silent disapproval, many Autobots cheered and many threw their fists into the air.

 

Far off, miles and miles away from the Auto base ruins, but still in sight shot, Spitfire stood on a cliff, looking back to the smoking cliffs hundred miles away. There was a look of pain and sorrow on her face as she watched the smoke and flames curl into the sky. She hated herself for what she had done. She knew she had been a coward for betraying her friends and comrades like she did. She knew that they would never forgive her for helping the Deceptions destroy many Autobots.

"I'm sorry..."

She knew that her former Leader would never forgive her for the deaths of their comrades. She would never forgive herself for what she had done. She swore her life on it. And she knew she would never forgive herself for betraying her best friend. She had caused him pain and suffering for what she had done.

"I am so sorry." Spitfire whispered before she turned and saw the giant of a Decepticon smirking down at her. She winced as she looked up into his fiery red eyes. She glanced to more Decepticons that stood with him. Sighing, she bowed her head to him. "Lord Unicron, I am ready to join your ranks." She murmured. The giant Decepticon nodded before turning and started to thunder across the rocky cliffs, followed by the other Decepticons.

Spitfire only looked back once, sorrowful. "Bumblebee..."


	3. Lincoln and Rod

Music was blasting from six foot speakers all over the large park, whereas hundreds of teens and young adults danced to while some watched as cars raced each other around the large arena on the track. Engines were revving along with the music, some owners showing off on powerful they really were. Some awed and some laughed as they bragged about how better their vehicles were better. There were so many cars, trucks, jeeps, and almost any vehicle on the market. Some were brand new; some were classics from the 50's or 60's. Some even from the 70's or 80's. It was a huge car rally for everyone. Not that just anyone could come in. There had been tickets sold, of course.

That was how Sam Witwicky and his beautiful girlfriend, Mikaela Banes got in. Sort of, anyway.

Mikaela's uncle had actually given her several tickets to the show, seeing that he was a huge cars salesman and in the street racing business. He was actually one of those sponsoring the rally. So it was some luck that got Sam and Mikaela to the party. Along with a few others that they sent the tickets to. Sam and Mikaela had come to the party in Sam's bright yellow 2009 Chevrolet Camaro, which was an interesting vehicle. It was hot among the stocks and streets, but there was something else about the car that no one else could ever manage to know about it. It wasn't like other cars.

Some of their friends they had sent tickets to had arrived in a similar fashion as they did. Though mostly only three of them actually showed up. Two of them were actually men from the military and they had met them only just the year before, during a nasty battle in Mission City, Nevada.

Captain Will Lennox and his wife, Sarah, and baby girl, Annabelle, and Sergeant Robert Epps.

The two military men were very happy when their two young friends invited them this huge event, and even Lennox had showed up in his new and special GMC truck, which had its own secrets. Sarah Lennox knew about what really happened the year before, since he didn't really keep any thing from her. So she knew what the truck really was.

And the other was just Sam's weird tree climbing friend, Miles Lancaster. Sam invited him just so that he wouldn't be left out and Mikaela really didn't mind him. She thought he was strange, yes. But in truth, she thought he was funny. So it was actually her that convinced Sam into inviting Miles to the rally with them. Of course, Miles had been a little peeved that they were going with her but he knew better than to open his mouth and say anything to Sam. He had learned a long time ago not to say anything against Mikaela Banes with Sam around.

"Wow! Check that one out! Nice." Epps said as he looked at a car not too far away. He then reached over and nudged Sam, who grinned at him. "Man, I'd have to say I owe you big time for the ticket! Been wanting to come to one of these for a while now!"

Sam just smiled and wrapped his arm around Mikaela, who rest her head against his shoulder. He could only shrug as he looked from all of his friends to her. "It's all thanks to Mikaela's uncle, Reno. He sent us the tickets and asked us to come." He shrugged smiling around at everyone. "And he said to invite as many friends as I wanted. So we sent the tickets off to you guys and Miles." He said, though looking around to see where his dimwitted friend was and rolled his eyes to see him trying to flirt with some girls. He was failing though.

Lennox, who was bouncing his baby girl a little in his arms, looked around at the cars before glancing at the GMC truck he was leaning against. "I wonder if there's any more of these guys here though. It'd be cool to see some more." He said, his eyes flickering over to Sarah, who smiled right back at him.

Epps snorted as he lightly nudged him. "Yeah. As long as they're not bogies." He remarked.

Both Sam and Mikaela smiled, knowing what they were talking about. They had to agree with them too. They wanted to see anything else that didn't mean harm to the human race. They wouldn't mind seeing a certain Peterbilt truck or maybe the Hummer H2 Search and Rescue truck. It had been a while since they saw those two, but knew that they were off on their own little missions for now. It would be a matter of time before they came back.

Mikaela turned slightly and looked at the two vehicles, the Camaro and the GMC and smiled. "What do you guys think? You think there might be any of your comrades here?" She asked them, lightly patting the hood of the Camaro. Both, the Camaro and the truck hummed once before going quiet again.

It was the fact that someone was walking towards them, and that someone was one that Sam and Mikaela had not wanted to see during their summer break.

"Great." Sam murmured as he straightened up a little and watched as Trent DeMarco, Mikaela's ex boyfriend was making his way over towards him with some of his old friends from the high school foot ball team. Almost a year ago, Mikaela had left Trent and it hadn't settled too well on his part. And since she started going out with Sam, he had made a point to try and make Sam's life a living hell. There had been several times that Bumblebee nearly transformed to make him back off. But it was those times that Sam asked him not to. So when the Camaro's engine began to growl a little, Sam lightly patted his hood and shook his head.

Both Lennox and Epps frowned when they saw Trent walking over, noting that he didn't look very friendly like so they knew he wasn't a friend. "Who's this kid?" The large black man asked, looking at Mikaela, whose face went really hard when she saw her Ex.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here. Witkicky, what are you doing here?" Trent asked in a rather hostile way.

Both Sam and Mikaela gave him an impatient look but shook their heads as they held each other's hands. They really did not want to do this with Trent right now. Not at a huge car rally, in front of their friends. Plus if anything happened, they weren't sure if they could stop Ironhide and Bumblebee from transforming and threatening the jock to back off. "This is Trent DeMarco, Mikaela's Ex-boyfriend. He's not too happy that I'm dating her now." Sam explained to the two soldiers before looking at Trent. "It's Witwicky."

Trent rolled his eyes but then folded his arms over his chest as he stood five feet away from Sam. "What's a loser like you doing here at a car rally? Besides looking like a loser?" He said before laughing with his friends.

The Camaro revved a little while everyone else rose their eyebrows at Trent, as if he was one of the biggest idiots. Epps even snorted as he glanced over at Mikaela, who rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. Sam, however, just shook his head as he put his arm around Mikaela. "I'm here with Mikaela, on a date. Her uncle is one of the sponsors and he's given us tickets." He paused glancing around all of his friends, which Trent was now eyeing them with a frown. "Oh, that's right. You haven't been introduced to our friends. This is Captain Will Lennox of the US Army and his family, Sarah and Annabelle." He motioned to Will, his wife and baby girl.

"And this is Sergeant Robert Epps of the US Army." Mikaela added, motioning to Epps as he folded his brawny arms across his chest and gave Trent a rather dangerous smile, as if daring him to keep messing with his two young friends. "We met them last year."

Trent backed off only a little, his eyes flickering between the two before he decided to ignore them by looking at Sam, almost as if he figured something out. "You know, I still can't believe Mikaela's actually dating you, Witfricky." He snorted as he glanced over at Mikaela, who was eyeing him in a deadly way. "She's probably using you for family's money. She used to do that with me all of the time. I used to buy her a bunch of crap and look how she repaid me. She went and ran off with a loser like you." He said with dry laughter.

"Hey, you better watch it, punk." Epps warned him, now frowning at him. Even the Camaro was clicking warningly now, a sound that all of them were used to by now after hanging out with a bunch of giant robots from a different planet. Ironhide was even started to rev, which Lennox placed his hand on the hood and shook his head as he held his baby close to him.

Sam grabbed Mikaela's arm and pulled her closer to him while giving Trent a look of warning. He knew very well that Bumblebee and Ironhide wasn't going to take much more of this if Trent kept it up. And there was no way he or the American soldiers would be able to stop them from transforming in front of everyone at the rally. The whole purpose of them being cars in the first place was to hide from the humans. Not blow it just because a jerk like Trent was saying a bunch of mean things. "Trent, stop it. Just stop, all right? Even if she was, which she's not, it's none of your business! So just stop pestering us and just go bother someone else!" Sam said warningly.

"Or you'll what, Withicky?" Trent asked with an acid like smile.

There was a loud click from Ironhide and they knew that the jock was starting to push it.

"I really hope that you're not making trouble for other people, Trenton DeMarco, because I'd hate to have you kicked out of here for domestic violence and trouble making." Someone spoke up.

Hearing that voice, Trent's head came up before a flash of annoyance and impatience appeared on his face before he and everyone else turned to see who had just walked up to them. It surprised Sam, Mikaela and their friends to see a very beautiful young woman not much older than they were, maybe even a year or two younger. She was simply gorgeous with long golden blond hair falling to just below her shoulder blades, with a few red lowlights in her hair, root to ends. Her eyes were hazel-green, yet more green than hazel. She was wearing a bright red halter top and a short jean skirt with ankle high boots on her small feet with a set of very fine looking legs.

Even Sam had to stare at them with surprise and alarm, until Mikaela noticed and slapped his shoulder to get him to stop. He blushed a little and offered an apologetic smile to her. But he returned his gaze onto the girl who was walking up with a man he recognized from Mikaela's pictures at home. It was her uncle, Reno Bane.

Reno Banes was at least in his mid forties with dark brown hair falling around his neck, long enough to pull back into a small pony tail. His eyes were just as dark brown but full of mischief humor and excitement most of the time. He also grew a small stubby beard on his chin. Truth be told, he had the look of a rough cowboy, yet he wore a dark gray tee shirt and blue Wranglers. He was even wearing black cowboy boots. He sure looked the part of a cowboy, minus the hat. It hadn't been him who spoke though. It had been the girl. He didn't say anything to Trent though. He actually looked directly at Mikaela before grinning and holding out his arms towards her. "Mickey!" He said cheerfully.

Smiling brightly, Mikaela left Sam's side and hurried over to Reno, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "Hey, Uncle Reno! Thank you so much for the tickets!" She told him happily before pulling away from him and motioning to Sam to move over. "Reno, this is Sam, my boyfriend. Sam, my uncle, Reno Banes."

Reno and Sam smiled at one another and shook hands. "It's nice to meet you, Sam. I've heard a great deal about you from Mickey, here." The older man said before chuckling when Mikaela lightly punched his shoulder to get him to stop calling her by her nickname he had given her when she was a child. "Good things. Very good things. It seems that my sister in law is fond of you too. She's told me that you're pretty polite." His eyes then flickered away from him to Trent, now looking dryly at him. "Unlike someone that Mikaela used to date." He remarked, dully.

Trent didn't pay any attention to him though. His eyes were glaring at the girl, who was smiling back at him in such a sly way. Just by the way they were looking at each other, they obviously knew each other, yet didn't get along with each other. The girl smiled coyly at Trent before raising a finger and wagging it at him. "Trent, what did I tell you? If you want to stay at this little rally, you have to behave." She told him.

"Shut up, Elena! For god's sakes, you're younger than me! I still don't see why I have to listen to you!" Trent snapped folding his arms and looking away impatiently.

The girl, Elena just smiled as she lowered her hand and folded her own arms across her curvy chest. She looked as if she was mocking him. But she merely shrugged in the most innocent way. "You have to listen to me because I invited you to the rally. You're here as my guest. So behave or I'll see to it that you leave." She then looked over at Sam. She studied him for a moment before smiling as if very interested in him. She sure seemed interested in him because she looked him over as if checking him out, which made Mikaela's eyes narrow warningly at her. But she didn't seem to notice. She just smiled right at Sam before holding out her hand towards him. "Hello. I don't think we've been introduced before. I'm Elena Lincoln." She shot Trent a look. "I, unfortunately, happen to be Trent's younger cousin, but we all know that I'm prettier and smarter." She said with light humor.

Sam was still a little speechless by how pretty this girl was. He had never been good with pretty girls, seeing that he had had a hard time speaking to Mikaela when they actually first met. So he didn't expect to do good with this Elena Lincoln either. In his opinion, Mikaela was a whole lot prettier than her but still, Elena Lincoln was beautiful. "Uh...uh..hi. Sa-Sam Wit-Witwicky." He could only stammer out.

"Uh-Oh Uh-Oh we're fallin' again." Bumblebee's radio kicked on and Sam grimaced.

Mikaela gave Sam, annoyed of him for losing his edge a little but then she moved forward and linked her arm with his, giving Elena a very dry but trying to be pleasant smile. "I'm Mikaela Banes. I'm Sam's girlfriend." She said in a dry tone, yet she kept smiling. She even drew out "Sam's girlfriend" to make a point to Elena.

"You're In Trouble. What are you going to do?" Came from Ironhide's radio, followed by a little rev as if he was laughing at him. Sam shot them a look while Lennox and Epps chuckled as they glanced at one another.

Elena Lincoln only smiled pleasantly at Mikaela before nodding to her. "I know. I was just talking to your uncle about you. He says you're a very good mechanic. He told me you can fix almost anything. You know, my family has a huge garage full of cars that could use some fixing up. Maybe I can hook you up." She smiled brightly when Mikaela's eyes widened with surprise. "The pay is very good. We happen to be very fortunate. The pay will probably be most likely $20.00 an hour. But if you want, you can think about it." She told her.

The sound of the pay sure had Mikaela and Sam both stunned to silence though, staring at her with wide eyes as if asking her if she was serious.

"So, I heard the little spat between you two." Reno said looking from Trent to Sam. He didn't look angry that they had been fighting a little about Mikaela but he was, truthfully, annoyed of what Trent had been saying about her. But he had his own ways of settling the matter. "Frankly, I don't like people who talk shit about my niece." He pointed a hard look at Trent as soon as he said that. But he shook his head smiling. "But, I know a way of settling this. Since you two seem to be competing against each other, why don't we have a little competition? A race between you two." He remarked.

The news surprised Sam and Mikaela while Trent was now grinning. He seemed to like that idea. He even started nodded as he folded his arms. "I'm up for it!" He immediately stated.

Mikaela just stared at her uncle as if he was crazy. She obviously didn't like the idea of Sam racing Trent with anything. They all knew it was going to be a car race. They were surrounded by cars! Clutching onto Sam's arm as if he was about to go somewhere and never return, she shook her head as she gave her uncle a very serious look. "Uncle Reno! No! No, no, no, no! Absolutely not! You are not going to make Sam race Trent! Trent cheats anyway!" She said sharply giving Trent a dark look.

"HEY!" Trent exclaimed in indifference.

Reno just smiled as he watched her for a minute before looking past the young couple at the yellow Camaro. He moved over to it and lightly placed his hand on the hood, running it along the glossy metal. "Oh, come on, Mickey. It's not going to kill your boy toy. Besides," He looked the car over with a grin. "Just by looking at this thing of his, its fast. It might stand a chance against Trent." He said, running his hand fondly over the hood before looking over at Mikaela and Sam, who glanced uneasily at each other.

Trent snorted as he tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, right. Like that thing can beat my baby." he told them before pointing away from them just down the line of vehicles. Everyone looked to see what he was talking about only to freeze.

There was a deep blue Porsche 9ff GT9 sitting not too far away. It was just sitting there in a deep blue color with a white line along the sides of the car. And as everyone knew, it was no doubt built for speed. Most Porsches usually were. There was something about the Porsche that even made Sam and Mikaela eye with more than just surprise and unease. Maybe it was the strange insignia nose of the hood. Though, they couldn't really see what it was.

"Aw, shi-it." Epps said, shaking his head before glancing over at Sam. "Sam, I don't know if it's a good idea to be racing that car. I heard that the Porsche GT9 can hit up to 225 in speed."

Sam swallowed hard as he looked at the car with unease. He knew that Epps might have a point. He didn't know much about cars as it was, other than that his Camaro was awesome. But the models, he didn't have a clue. It didn't him long to figure out that the Porsche was pretty bad on the road. He knew that if he raced that thing, it meant trouble. Trent, however, grinned when he saw the 'Nerd' hesitate. "What's wrong, Wikwimpy? You want to back out now? I always knew that you were a wimp. You and that wimpy car of yours." He said folding his arms.

Inside, Sam snapped. He shot Trent the dirtiest look he could managed and even heard Bumblebee roar to life, making many look at the yellow Camaro with alarm. The insult hit both of them really hard and they weren't going to allow it. With a dark look on his face, Sam nodded. "You're on, Trent." He told him darkly before turning and going towards his car.

"Sam!" Mikaela scolded him. "Bee! No!"

But Bumblebee was already starting to rev loudly, still causing a few give it a surprised look. Elena Lincoln watched the Camaro for a moment before she smiled right at Sam, giving him a coy smile. She played with the ends of her hair for a second before she turned slightly away. "Looks like your car is ready, Sam Witwicky. Since you and Trenton is going to be racing, why don't we make it very interesting? Why don't you two race for a little reward? If Trent wins, he gets to take out Mikaela to a fancy restaurant. My treat."

Both Sam and Mikaela gave her a shocked look though Mikaela looked more angry than shocked. Trent, however, was grinning like an idiot and nodded. "You know, Ellie, for once, I like your idea." He admitted grinning at Sam and Mikaela.

"Miss Elena." Even Reno sounded a little hesitant.

"Oh, don't you worry, Reno. Sam just has to make sure he wins the race against my idiot of a cousin." Elena said smiling as she looked right into Sam's eyes. "You haven't heard what you'd win yet, Sam. If you win, you get to take Mikaela to any restaurant you want. You name it. I will pay the bills, myself. I have the money to do it. And if it helps, we can throw in that RetroSBK motorcycle of yours. The winner can have that too." She told him.

Reno thought about it for a moment before slowly nodding as he looked from Sam to Trent. "All right. As much as I don't like the whole bartering my niece thing, I'll go with it. The winner gets the Retro that I have in my collection. I was planning on giving it to Mikaela for her High School Graduation present coming up, but I think now is the best time ever." he told them. He grinned when Mikaela looked at him with surprise and awe but he only shrugged. "And if Sam wins, you still get it, Mickey."

Staring at him for a moment, Mikaela finally turned quickly to Sam giving him a sly smile. "Kick his ass, Sam! I want that bike!" She told him.

Grinning, Sam nodded as he pulled her into a kiss before he quickly went over to his yellow Camaro, which already turning on the radio to a high energetic song and kicking its engine alive. He paused to glance at Epps and Lennox, who were watching him but then they smiled and nodded at him with determination. The large black soldier held out a fist towards him, which Sam bumped with his own. He quickly slid into the driver's seat, pausing to look up at Trent as he stepped up into view.

Trent gave him a smirk as he folded his arms before he turned slightly away. "You're going down, Witkicky." he said with a smug determination.

"Yeah, right." Sam told him just as determined before he closed the door and watched Trent hurry towards his Porsche. He was still a little uneasy about the whole racing Trent thing. The Porsche was a faster car than a Camaro by far. But Sam's Camaro wasn't just any normal car. "Bee, you think we can do this?" He asked, resting his hands on the steering wheel.

"We can do it baby!" Bee's radio rang out.

Smiling, Sam nodded before he started to pull Bee out from beside Ironhide and driving over to the starting line of the arena surrounding the entire party. The announcement of the race seemed to have gotten out because people were cheering as they began to file to the bleachers to watch. Viewers were cheering and yelling out for what car they wanted to win. Naturally, because the Porsche was somewhat better, most were cheering for it. But Mikaela, Epps, Lennox and Sarah was rooting on for Sam and Bumblebee. The Porsche and Camaro lined up at the starting line where Reno was standing, watching and waiting for everyone to quiet down before he moved forward to stand in between the two cars, looking at each of the young men. He gave them both a serious look as he looked at them.

"Let met warn you both right now. If Mikaela gets hurt because of your little dispute with each other, I will personally kick your asses, got it? My niece is not a toy for you two to play around with." He threatened them.

Sam immediately nodded, feeling a great respect for the man's protectiveness over Mikaela. He understood why he was the way he was. He cared for her and he had to respect that. So he only nodded his understanding, not looking shaken at all by the threat. Trent, however, rolled his eyes and looked forward. "Let's get this started. I have to start planning on where I'm taking Mikaela for dinner tonight." He remarked.

Reno looked warningly at Trent but nodded as he let his attention drift from one to the other. He took a deep breath before placed a fist against his waist. "All right. There are rules for this race. Keep it clean. Don't try and kill each other out there and don't bang up each other's cars, all right? These are both very splendid machines and I'd hate to see them get wrecked because you two hate each other. This is going to be a two lap race around the entire arena. And due to there being a lot of people standing and watching, try and stay on the track and don't run each off. Just shut and drive." He told them, getting another nod from each young man. Then he stood up straight and pulled out a mike he had clipped to his belt. "All right! Let's get this race started! Gentlemen, get ready!"

The two cars revved loudly, stating that they were ready to go.

"Get Set!" Reno yelled into the mike, causing the two cars to grow louder. "GO!"

Tires squealed against the pavement of the race track, causing smoke to kick up around the cars before both cars jolted forward as fast as they could. They sped right past Reno, who turned sharply on his heel to watch them go while listening to the crowd go wild. He only grinned as he watched the two cars go faster, neck to neck, surprisingly. "I love this game." He could only say.

Inside Bumblebee, Sam was in control for now. He quickly shifted the gears and pounded his foot on the gas pedal to make Bee go faster. Bee had the appropriate music going on, "Born to be Wild," Hinder's version. He could only grin as he drove even faster and even spared a glance over his shoulder at Trent's Porsche. The jock was easing his car to going faster and even glanced back at Sam with a smirk. Then he shifted his gears, causing his car to hit it and move quickly past the Camaro. It was at that moment, Bee decided to take it from there. The gears shifted on their own and the Camaro jumped from 70 to nearly 95 to 110, matching the Porsche's speed. It surely surprised Trent when he glanced over to see Sam keeping up. Of course, Sam kept his hands on the wheel, not wanting it to look like he wasn't in control. He just spared a grin over at the jock before nodded to the radio.

"Take it, Bee. It's all yours." Sam told him.

WHAM!

The Camaro gave a jerk after Trent gave his steering wheel a little jerk to have the Porsche clip the Camaro's side. Sam yelped in surprise as he felt his body jerk to the side from the collision. He looked wide eyed at a grinning Trent. "What the hell, Trent!" He yelled at him.

"Well, that hurt a little. I don't think I like this kid's attitude very well." came a distinctive robotic voice from the radio.

It surprised Sam though. He knew Bumblebee's voice and that wasn't it. He frowned at the radio with confusion and shock. "Bee?!"

"Well, I be damned." Bumblebee's voice came through the radio. The Camaro even turned a little moving along side the Porsche, which seemed to tilt on its side a fraction. "That's you, isn't it, Rod?"

There came a chuckle through Bumblebee's radio as the car slowed down a little, which had made Trent frown as he looked around the inside of the car. He seemed to realize that the car was slowing down a little. "Yep! I didn't think I'd see you any time soon, BB. Since we're in a race, why don't we give these humans something to really cheer about?"

"Let's get ready to ruuuuummmmble!" was Bumblebee's reply.

And the two cars gave a jolt, moving at top speed now. Sam's entire body jerked back into the seat a little when Bumblebee sped up so fast but he was more alarmed to see that outside was becoming a little bit of a blur. He even looked over at Trent, only to smile when he saw how bewildered he looked. He was pressed back into his seat a little looking wild eyed around his car.

Everyone watching was just as bewildered when cars jumped to nearly 200 mph, especially all those who knew that Chevrolet Cameros couldn't go that fast. Mikaela, Epps, Lennox and even Reno Banes were now frowning with bewilderment as they watched the two cars nearly become yellow and blue blurs on the road, racing past them so fast that they nearly missed it. A strong breeze followed right behind them, nearly blowing a few people over and causing them to yell out in surprise but excitement. The crowd screamed and cheered with excitement as the race drew on for the last lap. The Camaro and the Porsche sped side by side around the entire arena, neck to neck. They seemed to be playing with each other for a moment until the rounded the last corner. Then only did they kick it to top speed, nearly making outside become a blur for their drivers.

Sam was gripping the wheel so tight while gritting his teeth. "Bumblebee!" He hissed uneasily.

Bumblebee didn't reply. Instead, he kicked it to nearly 230 mph until he came very close the finishing line. Only then did he slam on the brakes and began to skid across the line with the Porsche right behind him. And just for an effect, the Camaro turned sliding and came to a skidding halt only right in front of everyone with the Porsche doing the exact same thing right beside him and then they both stopped.

Nonetheless, Bumblebee and Sam won.

The crowd went wild, screaming and cheering for the yellow Camaro and its owner while both Epps and Lennox grinned and threw their fists into the air. They were just as surprised as Mikaela and Sarah, but pleased that their friends had beaten Trent and his Porsche. They still couldn't believe how fast they had been going. They wondered why Bumblebee would risk exposure though by going so fast but it didn't seem that no one really noticed or cared that it was out of ordinary that a Camaro just beat a Porsche. They just thought the race was exciting.

However, as everyone rushed forward to greet the winner, Sam was practically glued to Bee's steering wheel, gripping it tightly as he just stared forward. He couldn't believe what just happened nonetheless. His mind was still racing almost as fast as the two cars had just a moment ago and it left him in shock for three different things.

One, he won the race.

Two, his car had just hit a speed that was not normal for a Chevrolet Camaro, which wasn't too surprising for what he really was.

And three, Trent DeMarco's Porsche was no without a doubt, an Autobot.

"Sam! Yo, Sam!" Epps called into the car as soon as he and the others approached Bumblebee and the young man. They had noticed that he hadn't gotten out just yet and it didn't take them more than a second to see the shock on his face. The black soldier's grin slowly died down a little as he spared a glance over at Lennox, who also frowned. "Hey, Sam. You all right?"

Blinking out of his stupor, Sam shook his head to rid of his stunned thoughts and looked up at them peering at him within Bumblebee then pushed the door open. He met Mikaela in a tight hug before looking wonderingly over at Trent's Porsche. He saw Trent stumbling out of the car, looking just as dazed as he did and staring at his car as if it had grown a head. So, obviously, he had no idea what his car really was but was still surprised that it had gone that fast. But then the loss caught up to him and his stunned look vanished, replaced with anger and he kicked dirt furiously.

Mikaela had saw Trent's behavior too but rolled her eyes as she placed a hand onto Sam's shoulder, shaking her head. "Ignore Trent, Sam. He's just being a baby." She told him, thinking it was Trent's mood that had Sam staring.

Slowly shaking his head, Sam's mouth curved upward a little. "No. It's not Trent. The Porsche...it was racing Bee." He told her still in wonder.

Epps laughed and clapped a hand on the roof of the yellow Camaro, as if patting a hand on someone's back. "Yeah!" He nodded as he tilted his head as if to look at the front. "That was pretty cool how he took on that little stuck up over there. Nice work, Yellow." He told the Autobot.

"No, no. Bee wasn't racing Trent." Sam quickly said glancing at him before looking back at the Porsche. He was smiling again, looking at the blue car with wonder. "It was the Porsche. It's an Autobot." he told them in a very quiet voice.

Mikaela, Epps and Lennox's heads jerked up and they all looked at Trent's blue Porsche with surprise and alarm. They weren't too sure if it was or not but they really hoped that was what it was, an Autobot and not something else. Still, it surprised them that an Autobot was trudging around in the form of a Porsche, belonging to a jerk like Trent. Mikaela looked over at Sam, tilting her head. "Are you sure?" She asked quietly.

Sam only nodded as he kept looking at the Porsche. "He spoke to us when Trent bumped Bee. I don't think he likes Trent too much, though I can't blame him." He said before quickly bending and looking into Bumblebee, at his radio. "Hey, Bee. That is an Auto, right? Who is he?"

"I'm in a hotrod gang I'm in a hotrod gang. Boom boom shang a lang shimmy shimmy shoo wop bang bang" The radio crackled to life.

Sam, Mikaela, Epps and Lennox frowned, listening carefully to the song the Camaro just played for him before it clicked, especially to Sam. He remembered Bee calling the Porsche, Rod before so he slowly nodded. "Hot Rod." He breathed with wonder. He looked over at the Porsche again, only to jump when Ironhide blared out a honk and a nasty string of swearwords came over the radio. Just by the music, Sam and his friends could tell that the Weapons Specialist didn't like this particular Autobot very much.

Of course, it could have also meant that Trent was now stomping over towards Sam and not looking at all happy that he lost the race. He even shoved his own friends off when they tried to grab at his arms to hold him back. He was no doubt coming for a fight. He stopped short when Elena stepped into the way, giving him a stony look. "Get out of my way, Elena!" He barked at her.

"Don't you dare, Trenton." Elena said darkly, her eyes narrowed at her older cousin. "You lost fair and square. So don't even think about picking a fight at this rally. Not even I will stop them from kicking you out of here."

Trent glared at her for a minute before looking past her at Sam, who stepped back as if stunned by the very sharp look he had gave him. He pointed at him shaking his head. "Witwicky! There is no way, no effing way that you could have won that race with that Camaro!" He shouted across the way at Sam, who frowned. "Porsche's are built to be faster than Cameros! The only way you could have beaten me is if you have Nos in your car's system!"

His outburst was now starting to make people murmur and start to wonder if Trent DeMarco had a point. Sam rolled his eyes with everyone and shook his head. "At least he got my name right this time." he murmured, dryly. Epps and Lennox just looked annoyed at Trent for even ruining their fun day anyway.

Mikaela, however, laughed sharply as she stood right next to Sam and folded her arms across her chest. "Nos, Trent? Please. Sam isn't stupid enough to use Nos." She remarked.

It didn't seem to phase Trent though because he shouldered past Elena, who sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned with a dry look on her face. She was obviously not amused by her cousin's attitude towards Sam though. Reno Banes, however, moved forward to stand between Trent and Sam, giving the jock a stern look. "All right, all right. Knock it off." He warned them both. He shook his head as he looked between them shaking his head. "Now, I have to admit it, Sam," He turned his eyes onto the spoken person. "Your car was going way too fast for Camaro standards." he turned to give Trent a stern look when he looked somewhat smug at his remark. "But so was yours, Trent. Porsches are made to go fast. But I took the liberty of checking the speed meter as you guys passed us on your second lap and you both were hitting about 255 mph. That is nearly thirty over your Porsche's limit, which is suppose to be 225. Now," He dropped his hands, seeing that it was safe enough that no fists were going to be swung right now. "I can't ignore accusations of Nos. Nos at Car rallies are not allowed, especially the kind I run. I know Nos is not flammable but it still can cause a huge mess if it explodes. So Trent, pull your car over here and both of you pop the hoods. I want to see what you have under there." He told them both in a very clear and stern tone.

Giving Sam a dark look, Trent went over to his car and did what he was pulled.

Not more than two minutes later, the sunny yellow Camaro with black racing stripes and the electric blue Porsche were facing each other, nearly bumper to bumper but far away from each other enough for Reno to stand between them and look down at the engines revealed under the hoods of each car. He, like, almost everyone who had been looking froze with surprise. Both engines were rather amazing looking.

"Wow." Reno hummed as he bent over Bee's engine first and began poking around it, tilting his head this way and that. He seemed to be very impressed with what he was seeing. "The Camaro's got a powerhouse under here. A 340 horsepower supercharged 3.6L direct injection variable valve timing V-6 engine with a high electronic fuel-injection system. The engine itself has 400 horse power. In truth, this baby of yours should have only hit 155 mph, Sam." He glanced side wards at the anxious young man standing beside his niece. He shook his head as he looked at the engine again. "However, there is no Nos system in here. It could have been the double pump fuel injectors that did the trick. It could have pumped more fuel into the engine making it kick that fast." He then shot Trent a look of warning when he started to protest. He really didn't want this punk interrupt right now. But with a shake of his head, he turned and looked at the Porsche's engine next and lightly hissed at what he saw.

"What is it, Uncle Reno?" Mikaela asked, though she was getting an idea of what he was hissing about. She could see it too and it made her bite her lip anxiously.

Reno shook his head as he looked the engine over, shaking his head as he was looking the engine over. "This Porsche has a custom designed mid-mounted twin-turbo 4.2L flat-six engine. This engine should make up to 987 horse power and 711 torque. This is a V-8 engine with a super high fuel injection system and a nearly 480 horse power. This thing shouldn't even be out on the streets yet." He looked over at Trent, frowning but then looked down at it. "This thing can, and probably would have, hit 240. So that doesn't explain why the Camaro beat it. Unless..." He cut himself off standing up straight and making a sharp tsk.

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another, looking somewhat worried but Trent frowned and tilted his head to the side. He didn't like the sound of Reno Bane's voice when he said unless. "Unless what?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly in confusion.

Reno kept his back turned to Trent and he tried to cover up a smile and coughed instead of laughed but then turned around looking at Trent with humor in his eyes. He knew he really shouldn't say anything but he really couldn't help it. The young man wanted to know. "Unless," He began, pausing for a second. "The car's driver really didn't know what the hell he was doing behind the wheel. You don't know jack shit about your own car, Trent. All you did in this thing was pound your foot against the gas pedal, hoping it'd go faster."

A lot of people "oooohed" and laughed when Trent's face flushed with anger as he had just been insulted by Reno. Epps even covered his mouth and barked a laugh into it while Sam and Mikaela both fought to hide smiles. Elena, however, openly smiled at her cousin's humiliation. She even looked a little smug about it and didn't even hide it. Trent gritted his teeth looking furious but then reached out to his car, slamming the hood down so hard that it made the entire car shake and the windows rattle.

"Ouch." Lennox remarked wincing as did Sam, Mikaela and Epps. They knew that must have hurt Hot Rod a little and was surprised that he didn't retaliate right there and then. The Porsche's radio even kicked alive, blaring out, "Ouch!" But no one really paid attention to it as they watched an angry Trent face Reno.

"I know enough about my car." Trent said coldly, his eyes narrowed dangerously at the Sponsor. "I don't give a damn what you say. I know Witwicky did something to his car to cheat. There is something with that car and I will find out what it is." He shot Sam a deadly look when he said that. Then he turned and went to get into the car. Roughly grabbing the door handle, he tried to yank it open.

But it didn't.

Swearing loudly, Trent began pulling at the handle, trying to get it open but the door wouldn't budge. He swore even louder before kicking the side. "Stupid piece of...!" He reached in through the window, thinking he might have locked it by accident and pulled up the lock, which didn't move. He frowned before going back to yanking the handle. "What the hell?!" He exclaimed.

Wincing, Sam knew that Trent was going to get violent with his own car pretty soon if the door didn't open so he moved forward, carefully and lightly patted the hood as if trying to give the Autobot a hint. "Trent, you need to be nicer to it. Don't be so rough, dude." He told him.

"SHUT the HELL UP, Witfricky!" Trent yelled at him but slowed down either way and lightly pulled at the handle. To his satisfaction, the door opened and he was once again humiliated with everyone laughing at him. Red faced, he climbed in and slammed the door shut before peeling out and kicking dirt up around the tires as he sped off, leaving his friends shouting after him in protest.

"Man." Epps remarked, shaking his head. "I wish I could be there when that car decides to steal itself from that punk."

Mikaela shook her head as she looked at Sam when he returned to her side. She smiled at him and took his hand again as he looked at Reno, who was smiling again. Reno had heard Epps but thought it was more a joke and even had chuckled at it. But with a shrug, he turned his attention onto Sam. "Well, Sam. My word is my bond. I'll go get the Retro." he told him before walking off.

Epps and Lennox grinned and clapped Sam on the back again, congratulating him on winning the race. Sam just grinned right back and even bumped fists with the large black soldier. He turned his attention onto Elena when she walked forward, smiling at him. Yet the smile was more a flirtatious one and he knew that meant trouble when he felt Mikaela's fingers tightened around his hand and she grabbed his arm. He knew this wasn't going to end well between the two girls and it made him uneasy. "You have such an amazing car, Sam. I really like it how it beat Trent." She remarked.

"Eh...thanks." Sam could only said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Elena shook her blonde waves before moving over to the yellow Camaro, looking it over. She smiled almost seductively as she placed her hand on the side of the hood and began walking alongside it, lightly trailing her fingers over the glossy exterior. She began rubbing the car down as if it was a horse she favored. It only surprised Sam, Mikaela and the two soldiers when the car literately shuddered as she lightly ran her fingers along the bottom frame. Bumblebee had actually shivered in front of everyone. It didn't seem to be noticed by everyone but them and Elena, who smiled down at the car. She then turned her bright green eyes onto him. "Looks like your car is ticklish, Sam." She said gently.

Sam stared at her with surprise but then let his eyes flicker over to Bumblebee as if he was asking him through non-speech but of course, there came no answer. "Uh..." He only muttered.

Smiling, Elena reached into her jean skirt and pulled out a key ring with a simple gold key on it, yet the imprint was different from what Sam was used to seeing. She only held up the key in front of her before lightly tossing it over to Sam, who caught it with one hand. "Take a look at what I drive, Sam."

Curious, Sam looked at the imprint and froze when he saw the yellow and green imprint of the Lotus Cars logo on the key. He felt his breath catch in his throat before he looked wide eyed at her. "No way! You drive a Lotus?!" He gasped and was followed by more surprised gasps and outburst. Elena, however, just smiled before she lift a finger and pointed off through the crowd. In unison, a pathway cleared as everyone turned around to see where she was pointing and saw a hot red Lotus Elise S parked in the shade of a palm tree, where several men were standing around it, staring at it in the most dreamy way. And as far as Sam could see, the license plate said; SPTFR. And like most, his jaw dropped wide, as did Mikaela's, Epps', and Lennox's. Never in their life had they ever seen a Lotus. "Oh, my god." Sam muttered with shock before taking a few steps towards it, but stopping and looking at Elena with wide eyes. "It's a Lotus! It's an actual Lotus! I never thought I'd get to see one of those!"

Elena just smiled at him and folded her delicate arms over her chest, nodding once at him. "That's right. It's a 2009 Lotus Elise imported from the United Kingdom just for me. The 2009 Lotus Elise usually has 139 horse-power, not as powerful as the Chevrolet Camaro or a 2010 Porsche GT9. But mine," She looked fondly over at her bright red car. "She's something very special. I had her engine updated with a proper engine. She has a 310 horsepower 2.6 LB V-8 engine under her hood and I've actually had her hit 210 mph test driving her on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah." She looked at the astonished look on Sam's face, as well as everyone else. "I really think she can go faster than that though. I was just playing it safe at that time. How about a test drive, Sam Witwicky? You want a ride?" She asked, holding out her hand for the keys.

In truth, Sam desperately wanted to take a ride in the Lotus Elise. That was an offer of a life time and he knew he would never, EVER get the chance again. But...his main concern was on the feelings of Bumblebee and Mikaela. He knew his girlfriend was really not liking Elena Lincoln. And he was sure that Bee might not like it if he rode another car.

"Uh..." He muttered uneasily glancing at Mikaela and then to Bee. "I don't think..."

Mikaela looked stoned faced at Elena's offer but she knew that he really wanted to take a ride in the Lotus. She also knew that Bee might not like it either but with a short sigh, she looked down at him. "This is a one time thing, Sam." She said stony like and folding her arms. "If you want to drive the Lotus just this once, don't let me stop you." She then looked him directly in the eye, giving him a very serious look. "But think about what He would feel if you do. I think you better call your dad, first." She told him, though giving him the hint that he needed to ask his Autobot Guardian.

Nodding and understanding her true meaning, Sam looked at Elena as he handed her keys back. He was even giving her a look as if asking her if it was all right. With her smile, he knew that she didn't care. So he climbed back into his Camaro and pulled out his cell phone, hooking the extension into the cigarette lighter slot, which was actually a way to speak privately with Bumblebee. It had been something that Optimus Prime had given him, stating that most of the Autobots had one. He tapped the wheel a few times, knowing that some people were watching him. He glanced at Epps and Lennox, who stepped in front of the door, blocking everyone's view of him, pretending to try and get a better look at the Lotus Elise. Elena was watching him with knowing eyes though and that made Sam feel only a little uneasy. "Uh, hi, Dad." He spoke out loud, looking at the radio, pretending to speak to Ron Witwicky on the cell. "Uh, yeah! Mikaela and I still here at the rally. Guess what? There's this girl here at the rally driving a Lotus Elise...yeah! I know it's cool. Well, she's just offered to let me test drive it. But I thought I should check with you first. You know, safety standards and stuff." He said lamely.

"Sam, I don't like the idea of you driving in another car." came Bumblebee's voice through the phone's ear piece. "But I'm with Mikaela on this. This is a once in a life time thing. As far as I can see on the World Wide Web, Lotus cars are very difficult to come by in America. So if you want to try driving it just this once, go ahead." 

"Really?" Sam said, sounding astonished, and feeling it. "So, you don't mind?" He couldn't even stop the worry within his tone.

"I am, as humans say it, feeling envious of this choice but I cannot interfere with what you want, Sam. If you want..." 

Sam felt his heart wrench for a second but then he took a deep breath and shook his head before closing the cell phone and placing his fist against his chin. He knew it had been a little rude to cut off Bee like that but he couldn't stand hearing that from him. It hurt just a little but he couldn't stand hearing that Bee was feeling a little jealous of the Lotus Elise and his own desire to drive it. Taking a deep breath, he stepped back out and looked at Elena who hadn't stopped smiling at him. "Elena, my mom heard what I was saying to my dad and she said no. She doesn't like the idea of me driving someone else's car. So, I have to say no."

"YOU IDIOT!" Someone shouted while a few others booed. Sam ignored them though.

But Mikaela, Epps, Lennox and his wife were looking at him with wonder. They couldn't believe that Sam had turned down Elena's offer. They even looked at the blonde to see if she was offended and was surprised to see her smiling at Sam as if he hadn't said a word. She just slowly shook her head before holding out the keys and dangling them a little. "Really? How about we fix that then, Sam? How about I give you my Lotus Elise so that you can drive it? For keeps?" Her words made more than several jaws hit chests and people stared at her with shock, one definitely being Sam and his friends.

"What?!" Both Sam and Mikaela gasped.

Epps shook his head as he held up a hand and looked wide eyed at Elena, giving her a whacked out look. He still couldn't believe she said that, nor could several others. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second! You want to give Sam your Lotus just so that he could drive it?" he asked, bewildered.

Smiling, Elena dipped her head into a nod, her eyes never leaving Sam's. "Not for free of course, Sam. There is something I want in return." She ignored the dry glare from Mikaela but smiled as her eyes trailed over to the yellow Camaro. "I will give you my hot sports car, a car worth more than $59, 000 dollars that would make you the most popular kid in your high school," She smiled slyly as she continued to look at Bumblebee, which made Sam slowly look at him. "For your 2009 Chevrolet Camaro."

Of course, there had been an outburst of cheers and people shouting different things like "Are you crazy, girl?!" or "Do it, man! Do it!" That had been from Miles, though. Sam had recognized the voice.

But Sam really wasn't listening to what they were saying. He just stared wide eyed at Elena as if she was the craziest person on the planet. Stunned stupid. He stared at her with wide eyes, as did everyone else. Mikaela, Epps and Lennox, once again, stared at Elena with shock as did Sam. They once again, couldn't believe that Elena wanted to trade her Elise for Sam's Camaro. In truth, if Bumblebee was any other car and not an autonomous robotic organisms from another planet called Cybertron, he would do it. But the fact was, Bumblebee was an Autobot and his best friend who had saved his life and Mikaela's so many times as it was. He wasn't really something to sell or trade for a hotter car.

So swallowing his pride, Sam lift his head and shook his head with a serious look on his face as he looked Elena right in the eyes. He knew he couldn't do it. "No thank you, Elena. But I will not trade my Camaro for the rarest, hottest car in the world. I can't. This car is...well, call me crazy or something but this car is my best friend. I won't trade him for anything." He told her.

There was a lot of choice words thrown his way by many people along with the nastiest insults he had ever heard of, not that he wasn't used to it. But he let those words bounce off of him like nothing. He meant every word that he said. Mikaela even looked at him in wonder and she knew deep inside, she desperately loved him. She only saw her love more by what he just said about his car. She gently took his hand, which he closed his around hers, giving it a light squeeze but never looking away from Elena. He was watching for any sign of anger or annoyance. But he didn't see any.

Instead, Elena just smiled at him still holding out her keys. "Sam," She began carefully. "This is something very big. My car is worth ten times more than yours. It's a Sports Car from the United Kingdom and known as a Queen among Cars. Do you really want to pass this up?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"...yes. I won't trade my Camaro for your Lotus Elise. I'm sorry." Sam simply said, his head lifting higher, earning more insults thrown at him.

But instead of looking angry or annoyed, Elena lift up her head and lowered her hand, smiling directly at him as if she had just announced him as the winner of a huge contest. She actually looked proud of him as she lift her head up like a Queen and nodded her approval. "Good answer, Sam Witwicky." Her words, once again, surprised all. She just kept on smiling a winning smile at him. "Your car is very special, Sam. You better make sure you take good care of it and don't let anything happen to him. Because if you do," Her smile grew a little firm and serious. "She might have something to say about it." She told him before she turned and walked towards her Lotus.

Frowning in bewilderment and surprise, Sam and his friends stared after her. "She? She who?" He had to ask, surprised that Elena stated his Camaro as a He and not an It. It sounded like she knew what Bumblebee really was.

Elena turned her head, pausing for a moment and smiling secretly at him. "You will come to know that in time, Sam. But for now, go get ready. I owe you and Mikaela an expensive dinner. Your choice. You can pick any restaurant that you want to take Mikaela to and I will happily pay the bills for you." She told him before she tossed her long blond and red hair back and walked away, leaving everyone bewildered. It was at this time Reno had returned with a violet colored RetroSBK, which had Mikaela's attention right then and she smiled as she went over to look at it.

Sam hesitated, still staring after Elena but then he slowly he looked down at Bumblebee, looking very confused. 'What did she mean? Does she know about you, Bee?' He thought to himself before shrugging and joining Mikaela.

However, upon reaching her Lotus, Elena turned back around and looked right back at Sam's group, looking at the young man, himself. She smiled and tilted her head to the side as she leaned against the door of her car. She stood there for a minute before turning and climbing into the Lotus, just sitting there and watching Sam and Mikaela and their friends looking the RetroSBK over with smiles.

"My, oh my. That Sam Witwicky might be kind of dopey in his own little way, but he's pretty cute. It's too bad that I didn't meet him before you did, Mikaela. I would have minded getting my hands on him. And he's sure loyal." She merely shrugged before placing her hands onto the steering wheel. "Better hold tight to him, Mickey. Because if you don't, I think I'll steal him away from you." She then let her eyes trail over to the 2009 Chevy Camaro and she smiled. "That little Camaro isn't so bad either. It's actually really hot. No wonder you liked him so much. He's a perfect my baby. Don't you think?" She murmured before looking at the steering wheel of her car, at the robotic face imprint in the center. It was very much like the one that was on Bumblebee's steering wheel.

An Autobot insignia.

Only the difference between the Camaro's, this one had a slash across its face which was a sign of betrayal and mutiny. Elena smiled down at it before gently running her thumb over the insignia.

"Hmm." The radio crackled to life all on its own but quietly. "Is that why you bargained for him, Elena?" 

Elena only smiled and lightly shrugged as she folded her arms behind her head and closing her eyes. "Maybe, maybe not. Sam did beat my idiot of a cousin in him, after all. Any car that beats that dork is worth a million." She let out a light sigh. "Ah, this party is starting to get boring. Let's go up to the lake. There, you can stretch your legs, Spit." She told no one in particular.

And the Lotus started itself and drove off with no one but one watching.

He didn't know what exactly the Lotus Elise was or who it was, or what was said but Ironhide had been watching it carefully ever since that human girl, Elena Lincoln had made her offer. He hadn't liked it that she even offered to trade her sports car for Bumblebee and swore that if Sam actually did go with it, he would scare the little pissant with his cannons for what he would did. But when Sam declined the offer, he was satisfied. But it didn't mean his suspicion went away. He couldn't sense any of his kind besides Bumblebee and a trace of another Autobot near by but he couldn't sense anything from the Lotus Elise. There was nothing coming from it. It made him curse that Ratchet hadn't come. He was better at sensing other Autobots or even Decepticons. So in the mean time, he would have to try and keep his eye on the Lotus if he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music Clips:
> 
> "Uh-Oh, Uh-oh we're fallin again"-Cheetah Girls
> 
> "You're In Trouble. What are you going to do?"-Ratt
> 
> "We can do it, baby!"-September
> 
> "Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuummmmble!-WWF/Boxing announcer
> 
> "Hotrod Gang" Stray Cats


	4. A Nightmare Beginning

1900 Hours-Kara Sea, Russia

It was very cold down in the icy waters of the Kara Sea of Russia, even within the gigantic black steel walls of the Russian Submarine, the SSBN TK-20 TYPHOON. It was one of six submarines, though there were only three in active. The TK-20 was just one of those three. And it was considered the largest sub in the world, once very dangerous in war. It still was dangerous but it had no reason to be a threat to anyone. There was no real war going on at the moment seeing that the United Nations were fighting for peace between the countries. So the TK-20 was just drifting through the icy waters of the Kara Sea, near the Arctic Ocean.

Within its chilly hull, Vladimir Karpos, one of the many Communications Officers was taking a break within his room, attempting to enjoy himself by listening to a tape his two teenage daughters made for him. They were singing to him on the tape and it just made him smile as he listened to their sweet voices. He missed them greatly and had not seen them for nearly six months now because he was working on the submarine but in truth, he loved what he did. He loved the ocean for many reasons. The beauty of the shimmering water, the marine life, the power the ocean held. It was the one place that no one on earth could not conquer. He could live in it for years and never grow tired of it. He swore that one day, he was going to save up enough money and buy a villa for his family in some very warm place. He wasn't sure where yet but he would get them there. He loved Russia more than anything. But he loved his family more and they hated the cold.

"Vladimir."

Vladimir's head came up and he saw one of his comrades, a man named Raskin step through the doorway, just peering at him from out in the hall. He watched him for a few mere seconds before pulling out his earphones and stopping the tape of his daughters. "Raskin, what do you want?" He asked in Russian. "I'm on my break."

Raskin nodded only once but then threw a thumb over his shoulder as if motioning to someone behind him. "I know. But the Captain is calling for all of the Communication officers. A strange message is being transmitted and he wants all of the officers to listen to it to see if they can figure it out and where its coming from." he told his comrade before he shrugged. "Of course, you can refuse to come and get into trouble. You can take your pick." He remarked with humor.

Rolling his eyes, Vladimir climbed off his cot and stuffed his walkman into his pocket as he walked out of his room with Rashkin. He was annoyed that his break was being interrupted but he figured there was a good reason for it. And he knew better than to ignore the Captain's orders. So he would do what he was told. "What is this about, Rashkin? What kind of message did we get in?" He asked in irritation.

His comrade just shook his head and shrugged. "I do not even know, Vladimir. I'm just doing what I was told to do. So far as I know, the message just came not too long ago. It's baffling the others because it's in a language that no one seems to recognize it. One of the other Communications officers believes it may be some kind of computer code. But no one can read it. And since you are an Intelligence Technician and know most languages, the Captain wants you on it." He told him.

"Ugh. Why me?" Groaned Vladimir, but he followed Rashkin anyway.

However, as Vladimir entered the deck, he hesitated when he was greeted by the worst sound he had ever heard. There was a metallic screech echoing in the room. It was nothing he had ever heard before. He wasn't even sure how to describe it. It just sounded like metal screeching and clicking. But that was just about it. The very sound nearly rattled the bones in his body and made the hairs on the back of his neck curl. He didn't like it. "What is that?" He asked alarmed.

Almost all eyes went over to him but the Captain's was immediately back on the radars before them, shaking his head as he just motioned Vladimir to move closer. "We don't know, Comrade Karpos. But I really hope you could be the one to tell us that." He told him.

Frowning, Vladimir moved over to the panel to get a better look at the strange message. He even had to wave a hand at the other Communications officer to get him to move out of the way, which he had no problem in doing. He seemed a little too un-nerved by the strange code coming in. He sank down in the chair and picked up the earphones to hear better and even turned it up a little to listen very closely. However, the metallic screech made no sense to him. He didn't understand it and he certainly didn't know it. But there was something about it though that he couldn't put his finger on. His eyes narrowing at the radar screen, he then reached over and pulled up the sound waves on the screen and watched the colorful lines dancing all over it.

"Do you know any of it, Comrade Karpos?" The Captain asked, watching him carefully.

Shaking his head, Vladimir concentrated mostly on the signal, now working to decipher it. He was sorely disappointed when he ran it through the entire translation system and found nothing. "No, sir. I don't recognize it at all. Or the language it's being spoken in." He then turned his eyes up to the man standing behind him and shook his head again. "This is not even a language known on the planet, sir. This type of language or signal doesn't exist here." He hesitated on what he was about to say next. "It could be...it could be the encrypted messages that the Americans warned everyone about the year before."

"That shit about giant robots from space? That's bullshit, Karpos!" Another officer from behind him. "I bet it is the Americans that are sending this message."

Vladimir and several others only glanced over at him but he just shook his head. He wasn't fond of the Americans any more than the others were. But he wasn't willing to point fingers at someone until they were sure that it was them. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small container, opening it and retrieving a small computer chip from within it. He plugged it into the system, making quite a few give him a frown. The captain even tilted his head to the side. "Vladimir, what are you doing?"

"With your permission, sir, I'd like to copy the data and contact my daughter, Anya. This is something she would know about." Vladimir told him as he already began copying the data. "I don't know what it is, but this signal is familiar. Something I think she showed me. As for that whole giant robot, it is not bull shit. It was Anya who convinced me that they were real." He merely shrugged when everyone looked at him weird. "Believe it or not, Comrade, I have seen footages of the robots. Anya showed me. She hacked into an American security system right after that whole mess in Mission City, Nevada, America. She saw the so called terrorists on the system and even told me that it was a large group of giant robots fighting one another. I know how it sounds but my Anya does not lie. She's actually the kind who protests against conspiracies." He smiled at his fellow officers and shrugged. "She gets on my case every time I try to hide something from her. I can't even lie about St. Nicholas." He told them.

It was only to Vladimir's pleasure that the Captain didn't say no. He had been expecting him to immediately tell him off for it but the Commanding officer didn't decline him or anything.

Once Vladimir finished copying the data, he hooked it up to the computer and sent out an IM to his daughter, knowing all he had to do was wait for her to get on then. He even told that to his comrades and they nodded in agreement. The only thing they could do was to try and keep analyzing the information they were getting.

For nearly an hour, Vladimir tried to analyze the signal and find out where it had came from but kept running into dead ends. The computer wasn't working too well with him as it was and he was sure it was because of how cold it was outside the sub. There could have been a possibility that there was a bad reception too. But as he worked, a message suddenly popped up and to his delight it was his daughter. He opened it up with a big smile. He was just glad it didn't take her too long to get back to him.

Anya: Hello, Papa. I got your message. What's going on?

Vladimir: Anya, I have some data I want you to take a quick look at and see if you can decipher it. We received it an hour ago but it actually has me confused. 

Anya: Oh, wow. :D There is actually some data that the Great Vladimir the Computer Whizz can't figure out?

Vladimir groaned but there was a smile on his face as he read her message but he typed back his answer.

Vladimir: Don't be teasing me, Anastasia. I will be coming home in the next two weeks and I will not be afraid to put you on snow patrol.

Anya: -_-* That's not fair. And don't call me that. You know it annoys me. 

Vladimir: It's your name, I'm your father and I named you. And I can call you by your full name if I want, so, nuh. :P

Anya: Ugh. Sometimes I hate you, you know that. I really wish you didn't name me after some lost Russia princess. As if I don't get teased enough at school. lol. All right. Send it over and I'll take a quick look. That is if you take your precious time doing it, old man.

Vladimir only sighed, rolling his eyes but he uploaded the information from the chip and sent it to her. He only hoped that she could find out what the signal said and where it was coming from. And he hoped it wasn't something too serious that would get her into trouble, or him for that matter. He knew he had permission from the Captain but what about the higher ups? They were another matter.

Once he sent off the information, he had to wait for almost five minutes before Anya actually replied. He had been tapping his fingers along side his keyboard, glancing up now and then when the Captain came around. He only had to shake his head to let his Commanding officer know he didn't have anything yet. Of course, the Captain wasn't entirely happy to hear that but he didn't do anything but sigh impatiently and went off to bother someone else. But, he came back when Anya emailed Vladimir back.

Anya: Father! Where did you get this?!

Vladimir frowned at the urgent words but shook his head as he typed out his reply.

Vladimir: It just came to us over the radar. Why? Did you figure it out?

Anya: PAPA! This signal is what the Americans were warning the Governments about! This is the language of those giant alien robots! I looked at the source and couldn't find it but it's communicating with the Typhoon's computers!

Vladimir's insides nearly turned as ice cold as it was outside the submarine as he read the words over and over again. He couldn't believe it. He had been right! It was the giant robots! He turned sharply around and looked at the Captain. "Captain! Anya analyzed the information and she claims that it is the giant robots that are releasing this signal! It's hacking into our system!" He shouted at the captain.

That brought up a little bit of a commotion as people began talking at once. Everyone looked disturbed by Vladimir's accusations. The Captain merely frowned before he turned sharply and looked at the other Communications and Intelligence officers, who were already working to find out if that was truth. Another officer, the one before, actually was shaking his head as he gave Vladimir an annoyed look. "The giant robots? Karpos! You're so stupid! You're letting some childish story get to you! There are no giant robots from space! It's probably the Americans...!" He was exclaiming.

An officer quickly stood up. "Captain! The Submarine is diving!" He called out.

The Captain only frowned with alarm but shook his head as he hurried over to the radio system and snatched it up. "I didn't order for us to dive! Why are we diving?!" He demanded to know.

The officer shook his head as he was working fast to stop the submarine from diving. He knew that he'd better stop it or the Captain might lose his temper. He wasn't the nicest person when he was in a bad mood. "I don't know, sir!" He then frowned as he began pulling at the controls, gritting his teeth when they didn't budge. "Captain! The controls are jammed! They won't move!" He yelled.

The Captain began cursing loudly in Russian before barking orders for everyone to stop the sub from going deeper. Vladimir had, however, quickly turned to his computer and began typing as fast as he could to Anya.

Vladimir: The signal! What does it say?! Did you manage to read the message?!

It took a moment for her reply to come but it did come, very slowly due to the fact that it was harder to send signals from under water to the sub.

Anya: It's the Sub! I think there's one of the robots on the submarine! It's coming from the engine room! Papa...

*Connection Lost*

Vladimir swore as he lost the connection with Anya but even more to what she last said. If what she said was true, an alien robot was on the submarine and it was possibly controlling their ship. He had to find it and get rid of it.

Leaping to his feet, Vladimir bolted from the Bridge as fast as he could and rushed down the hall to get to the engine room. He had to find out where the robot was hiding. If it was on the sub, it meant trouble. He would not let it endanger his fellow soldiers. No chance in hell would he let it. He would have to find it and destroy it before it did any damage. He stopped by his room and snatched up his pistol. He didn't know how much good it would do but he had to try. Running as fast as he could and pushing past his comrades, he quickly rushed to the engine room with his pistol in hand.

However, as he hurried into the engine room, something caught his eye as he rushed by a group of pipes. He had caught sight of something hidden behind the pipes and it made him come to a quick stop. He pointed the gun at what he saw before moving forward cautiously to take a better look.

And he froze.

Behind a large steam pipe, there was a strange symbol etched into the metal wall, looking as if it had been there for a long time. It was an insignia of a robot face. Or the symbol of the devil. The face had curled horns on both sides of its head while a spiked circle surrounding it.

Vladimir wasn't entirely sure where this symbol came from. He had never seen it before. But he had heard from Anya that the alien robots had markings like this before. An insignia of a robot face etched onto their bodies and that they could...His heart nearly stopped as he remembered what she had said about what the alien robots could do. They could transform into machines, mostly transportation vehicles. The really big ones anyway.

"No..." Vladimir murmured before looking wildly around the hall at the steel walls all around him and he shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no. This can not be! The Typhoon cannot be...! It can't be one of the alien robots!"

Either way, he needed to report this! Vladimir turned to rush back to the bridge but stopped only a few steps away. He thought of something to do before he moved away from this symbol. The Government had to know that the Typhoon submarine might just as well be one of the giant robots from space. So he quickly took out his cell phone and activated the video camera. He hit the record button as he trained the camera on the symbol. "This is a symbol that I, Vladimir Karpos, have found on the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon Submarine. I do not know where this insignia has come from but it was not on here before. I believe it may be tied to the alien robots that the Americans are claiming that is on our planet. I do not know! But the submarine may be one of the giant robots! It is diving deep into the Kara Sea on its own accord! We are trying to stop it but it will not respond! The symbol I have found is a robotic face and it is orange...!"

There was a loud crash that shook the entire submarine and it groaned eerily. Vladimir looked around with alarm before he turned and rushed to bridge. He, however, hesitated as he looked down at his phone before looking at it with pain.

"Anya, I send this message to you! If anything happen to me, I love you and your sister and your mother. Know that I will always be with you. But if the Typhoon is a robot alien, you must tell the Americans. My own comrades wouldn't believe me and you, so I know our Government will not. You must alert the Americans!" He told the camera before hitting the send button and sending it to his daughter.

There was a loud clank and the submarine groaned, which was a sound that Vladimir recognized as the sub stopping. He stopped right outside the bridge and looked around with a look of terror on his face. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't like it. He stood there, listening to the groans for a moment. There was a rumble deep within the gigantic machine before it gave a jerk, causing Vladimir to stumble against the wall. He didn't like this at all. Especially with water now starting to trickle down the hallway floor. His heart nearly stopped when he saw water before looking up the hall again. That was not a good sign at all.

Without hesitating anymore, Vladimir turned and rushed into the bridge, looking wildly around. The bridge was a riot. There were officers rushing from one side of the room to the other and the Captain was barking orders and demanding on the status of the Sub. Everyone was nearly shouting as they worked.

"Captain!" One officer running the controls shouted. "We're taking on water! The hatchways just simply opened up! We don't know what happened!"

"Sir! The propellers have stopped and they won't start up again!" Another yelled.

Vladimir looked around with terror, knowing exactly what was going on. He knew it had to be the sub. His suspicions must be right about it. The Typhoon was one of the aliens. And it must have heard him recording his message on his phone. Swearing, he rushed over to his station and grabbed the radio. He only hoped that if the submarine really was one of the alien robots, it would listen to him. Or even consider his words. "Wait! Wait, please!" He shouted into the mouth piece, ignoring any that looked at him, which was most. "Please, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please just wait a moment! Please stop and listen to me!" he begged the submarine.

The rumbling slowed down and everyone was quiet as they watched Vladimir.

Glancing around, Vladimir didn't really pay attention to his comrades but the sub, itself. He took a deep breath and looked back at the control panels. "Please, just a moment. I know you probably did not want to be found out and I'm sorry for recording your symbol. I won't do it again. Just please, do not kill us. Maybe we can come up with some kind of arrangement. Some kind deal. We will not tell anyone that you are one of the visitors if you do not kill us. We will do anything you ask."

"Karpos, what are you talking...?" An officer asked, as he and everyone gave him a strange look. But something cut him off.

There was a metallic click within the room and something began to jut out of the wall. Some kind of contraption just pushed out and began to flicker. Everyone on the bridge grew tense when they saw some kind of laser shoot out of the machine but their eyes quickly followed the beam and they were all startled to see a man appear in the middle of the room. He had just simply appeared as if he had materialized out of thin air and it was disturbing. He, himself, was just as disturbing. He was a rather good looking man, in a very dark way. His hair was fine, ink black, yet slick back and he had a black goatee surrounding his smirking mouth. He was wearing a fine blood red suit with a black silk shirt under the jacket. His eyes were what scared Vladimir. They were fiery red, almost glowing like a red light in the dark. They weren't even a human's eyes.

Truth be told, when Vladimir even looked at the man, he didn't think of an alien robot. He thought he was seeing the devil in man's image, standing in the place of one. And those fiery red eyes made him shiver as he stared at the man standing in the middle of the room, smirking like he knew a deadly secret that might just kill all of the men there. And for a moment, he thought it was the devil. Even when he spoke up.

"I don't concern myself with being revealed by you worthless beings. I am actually looking forward to being revealed to your pathetic planet." The man said, his voice much more metallic than a human's. So it was obvious that he was not apart of the Planet Earth's population. His fiery eyes slowly looked around at everyone but then landed directly on Vladimir, who was pressed against the wall with wide eyes. "I look forward to the day you humans fall to your knees and worship me."

The captain and several other officers quickly yanked out their guns and pointed at the man, who didn't even seem worried about weapons being drawn. He was actually just smiling at them, as if taunting them to do it. Everyone was just alarmed that he was even there.

"Who are you? Where did you come from and how did you get on our vessel?!" The Captain demanded.

The dark man only look looked at him before smirking almost eerily as if he had just been told a joke. Shaking his head, he looked the captain right in the eye. "Your vessel? No." He lift a hand up as if offering it to him before swiping the air to the side with it. "Mine. I've had enough of carrying your pathetic species around. So enough is enough." He remarked still smirking.

Before anyone could say or do anything, more or less realize what the man was doing, there was loud clanks and crashes as several wires and pipes began to jut right out of the walls and control panels. They were actually coming to life. There were shouts and screams as the pipes and wires began to attack the officers and the captain on the bridge. Everyone but Vladimir was being attacked. He had fallen to the ground and covered his head, letting out a cry of fear as he listened to the massacre. He couldn't do anything but just wait for his turn to be slashed down like his comrades were being done to.

But nothing hurt him.

Once it went quiet, Vladimir slowly lift his head and looked up to find that the man was standing over him, looking directly at him. Startled, the Russian soldier leapt back away from him, only to trip over a dead body and land hard on his back. He let out a low groan before scrambling to get away from the man, running into the wall. "Please, don't kill me! I said I was sorry! I will do anything you want! Anything!" He begged as he pressed himself against the wall.

"Relax, human." The devil like man sneered as he watched Vladimir carefully with his fiery red eyes. He seemed amused by the man's fear. "I don't plan on killing you just yet. You have some use for me for now. I acquire someone to do my bidding for now, starting with delivering a message to someone. And since you are the one who discovered me, I choose you to do it. If you refuse," The smile on the man's face grew rather vicious and unpleasant, enough to make Vladimir shiver. "I know how to find Anastasia. Do not make me bring your offspring into this. As long as you do as I say, she will not be harmed. Do we have an understanding?"

Vladimir looked at the man with alarm and fear, as well as a mixture of anger and hate. He couldn't believe this thing was threatening his daughter. But what could he do? If he didn't do what he was told, this monster might kill his daughters and wife. He had to do what he could to protect them. So with a sigh, he nodded. "Yes. What do you want me to do? And what is it I shall call you?"

"My Lord is how you will address me." The man said, his smile turning icy. "And for starters, I will be returning to t surface where you will throw out all of these carcasses. I don't want them stinking up my insides. After that, I will be taking you towards the far East, where we will be tracking down someone. I have a job for you to do at," He paused as if thinking or maybe even looking up something in his system. "The coordinates is at 36° 0′ 56″ N, 114° 44′ 16″ W."

Frowning, Vladimir slowly stood up and carefully went over to the radar map and looked up those coordinates to find out what he was talking about. And when he saw it, he froze. "36° 0′ 56″ N, 114° 44′ 16″ W. That is in the Americas. Nevada." He looked at the man with alarm. "What is you want for me there?"

The man only smiled evilly as he narrowed his fiery red eyes at Vladimir. "You will come to know soon, human. You will come to know very, very soon."

Vladimir did not like the sound of that, nor the smile on this monstrosity's face. He had a very terrible feeling that what this alien robot wanted him to do was not good for anyone or anything. He just knew that whatever he was suppose to do, it might save his family's life, but it might just as well end the lives a lot more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Quickie: 
> 
> If anyone is actually wondering what "36° 0′ 56″ N, 114° 44′ 16″ W is, it's actually the coordinates to the Hoover Dam in Nevada, where they were keeping Megatron and the All Spark in the first movie.


	5. A Date About Truth

It was easy to say, Sam and Mikaela were both very surprised when they received a call to their motel rooms by the front office, stating that their limo had arrived and the driver was waiting for them outside. Hearing that, they looked outside to discover a pure white limo waiting for them. Not more a few moments later, there was a knock on their door and Sam opened it to find the limo driver. "Mister Samuel Witwicky, Miss Mikaela Banes, your limo awaits."

"We have a limo?" Sam asked bewildered.

The driver just smiled lightly at him before reaching into his inside jacket and pulled out an envelope and held it out to him and Mikaela. He didn't look surprised that they were so alarmed and uneasy. "From Miss Elena Lincoln. She wishes to invite you and your lovely date to join her and her own date at The Night Dream, a night club and restaurant on the North side of the city." He explained.

Still surprised, Sam and Mikaela looked at one another with bewildered looks on their faces, thought she looked more irritated than he did. They didn't like this at all. They were very aware that they were under aged and knowing that Elena was younger than them, she was way under aged to be going to a night club. "A night club? Does she even know that we're 17 and 18 years old and not even old enough to go into a night club?" Mikaela asked irritated.

"Hmm." The Driver hummed smiling. "Miss Lincoln's family owns the night club, Miss Banes. She knows better than to do anything she's not suppose to be doing. Your evening will be taking place in the restaurant part of the club, which is safe to say, legal for ones of your age. And if it helps, your uncle, Master Reno Banes will be there."

Again Sam and Mikaela frowned, looking uneasy. But then Sam held up a finger to the Driver as he pulled the door shut. "Just one sec." He the closed the door so that he and Mikaela could be by their selves. "Mikaela, let's go." He told her, grinning.

"Sam! Are you nuts?! We could get arrested for going into a night club! Besides I don't want to!"

Sam sighed as he placed his hands onto her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He knew very well why she didn't want to go to the night club. And he really couldn't blame her. But he had his own reasons of why he wanted to go see Elena. His mind was still reeling on the fact that Elena had been speaking about Bumblebee as if she knew he wasn't just a car. At the time, a red light had been flashing in his head and he really wanted to find out. He knew this was the time to find out. "Come on, Mikaela. This is a once in a life time chance. This is our only chance to break a few rules and actually go into a club and a casino under aged. And since it's our host's family owns the club, we should be fine."

Mikaela gave him a blank look but shook her head as she folded her arms between them. "Our host is the reason I don't want to go, Sam." She said blankly.

Smiling, Sam pulled her closer to him and rest his forehead against hers. "Mikaela, I'll admit it. Elena Lincoln is hot. But she has got nothing on you. I swear, I don't like her. Not like the way I love you." He told her.

It really couldn't be helped when Mikaela slowly smiled as she looked right into Sam's eyes. Her heart had even fluttered a little when he said that he loved her. She let out a light sigh as she looked down, almost shyly but then looked back into his eyes. "Sam, you are such a butthead. You can't just blackmail me by saying that you love me." She told him.

Sam grinned. "It's working, isn't it?" He asked, teasingly.

Giving him a playful glare, Mikaela then wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded as she pulled him down into a kiss. "Yeah." She whispered against his lips but then lightly pulled away, giving him a very stern look. "But I really don't want to go. Why do you want to?" She asked quietly.

Biting his lip, Sam looked away from her for a second but then he shook his head as looked back at her. "At the rally, Elena was talking like she knew Bee wasn't just a car, Mikaela. She was calling him a He and not an It. And then there was that warning from her about keeping him safe or She would have something to say about it. I want to know who 'She' is." He told her just as quietly.

Frowning, Mikaela took in his words before stepping back and looking very thoughtful. She had to admit but he might have had a point. This was their chance to question Elena about what she knew and if she knew about the Cybertronians on Earth. And if she knew Trent's Porsche wasn't just a car. She didn't like it, but it might have been their only chance. So with a low sigh, she looked into Sam's eyes and nodded. "All right. We'll go. But," She held up a finger and gave him a very stern look. "If she starts flirting with you and trying to cause trouble, I mean it, Sam. I will be out of there and I will be dragging you with me. Even if you're kicking and screaming." She told him sternly.

"Okay." Sam said, trying not to laugh.

Mikaela then smiled slyly and folded her arms over her chest." One more thing," She added, making him frown but she kept on smiling slyly. "We are SO not riding in a limo."

After fifteen minutes, and after telling the Driver that they would go but not in the limo, Sam and Mikaela were now racing past cars as passengers on Mikaela's new RetroSBK motorcycle. It had only taken a minute to convince Sam, not to mention Bumblebee, but Mikaela really wanted to try out her new motorcycle that Sam won in the race against Trent. Sam was okay with it. But Bumblebee was another thing. He had actually made a little fuss once the two told him that they were going to take the Retro. Of course that was after they told the driver, who didn't seem to have a problem with it at all. He only smiled and walked away, while calling Elena Lincoln to let her know that her guests were on their way.

It didn't take too long to reach the night club and it wasn't even hard, even after the driver gave them the directions. They couldn't even miss it if they tried to. The night club wasn't even more than ten blocks away from the motel they were staying in. There was a huge neon sign flashing; The Night Dream club right out front of the building. It was a tower like building with four stories and quite different from the other buildings surrounding it. There was a long line of people trying to get in but there was an express line for VIPs, which Sam and Mikaela were. So they were let in right away. According to what they saw, the ground floor was the casino. There slot machines every where, as well as several tables where there were card games being played. Sam really wanted to try some but Mikaela dragged him away from them before he could even get close to one of the machines.

The second floor, as they saw was the Clubbing floor. The room was huge, maxing the width of the building with counter tops and several tables all around the room while the dance floor was in the very center of the room. There were flashing lights and loud music playing as people just enjoyed their selves. Mikaela was actually very tempted of just going in there instead and drag Sam to dance with her other than seeing Elena Lincoln.

The third seemed to be the entertainment floor. There were quite a few tables in the room surrounding a table where an entertainer was telling jokes and making people laugh.

The top floor was where they got off the elevator, which was the restaurant area. When Sam and Mikaela got off, they stopped immediately to get a look at the restaurant. They hadn't been expecting what they were seeing though. The room itself was more like a glass room, surrounded by large panels of glass and looking out into the night. Inside the room, it was more like a huge green house or some kind of jungle. There were exotic plants all around the room and beautiful waterfall fountains here and there with golden Koi swimming in the pools. There were tables set on the stonework floors where there were only a few people entertaining their selves with delicious looking food. There was some clattering of the usual kitchen noises somewhere behind a large wall where there were Mosaic art work with only a door to show that was where the food was being prepared. In addition, there was the gentle sounds of a rain forest in the air along with the sound of a wooden flute. It was actually very nice.

A man, who had been waiting for Sam and Mikaela to arrive, gave the young couple a smile before motioning them to follow him, which they did but not without hesitating. The man led them to the center of the room where Elena Lincoln was waiting for them with Reno Banes.

However, as the man approached with Sam and Mikaela, Elena looked up at them and then offered them a smile as she motioned to the waiters to move out their chairs for them. She was dressed appropriately for a fancy dinner night. She wore a rather lovely one piece red dress, though it was still rather short and showing off her legs. Sam had to look away to keep himself from staring. Her golden and scarlet hair was pulled up into a delicate bun behind her head while she wore little make up. She didn't really believe in wearing heavy make up to impress boys and she really didn't need to as it was.

"Sam." Elena said, sweetly, almost breathlessly as she looked him over. She eyed his black slacks that he wore and nice white long sleeve shirt almost too appreciatively She didn't even seem to notice that he stiffened and Mikaela's face darkened. "You look very handsome." She then turned her eyes onto Mikaela and smiled just as sweetly as she had Sam. Her eyes lit up a little as she looked at the white halter top she was wearing then at the blue jean, knee length skirt. "And Mikaela, you look very pretty. I especially like your outfit." She said.

"Thanks." Mikaela said, trying to sound thankful but she really was giving the blonde a dark look for checking out her boyfriend. She then looked at Reno, giving him a look next. "Uncle Reno, I'm surprised that you're here. What are you doing here?"

Reno Banes, who was dressed in black slacks and a black cotton shirt, just smiled sheepishly at his niece and ran a hand through his long hair, which was something he did when he knew he was in trouble. And he knew he would be when he actually admitted why he was there. "Well...Mickey, I'm actually Miss Lincoln's date." He admitted.

Mikaela gave him a very surprised look but also looked scolding as she glanced from a smiling Elena to her embarrassed uncle and back and then again. "Uncle Reno, you are 45 years old. And you are on a date with, what? A 17 year old?" She asked, sternly.

"I'm 16, actually. But I will be 17 in a few months." Elena said, not even offended at all by Mikaela's remark. She actually seemed amused by it. But with a shrug, she folded her hands together and rest them on her knee while looking at the other girl with her coy smile, which was what Mikaela really wanted to slap off her face. "I only asked your uncle to be my date tonight because we were discussing a business proposition, Mikaela. It's nothing that you should worry about. Please, take a seat." She told them.

Both Sam and Mikaela were slow to doing so but they did. Though, Mikaela immediately started lecturing her uncle while Sam met eyes with Elena, who was watching with her coy smile. It made him feel a little uneasy but he cleared his throat and tried to smile right back. "Uh...thanks for inviting us, Elena. This place is really nice." He told her, catching Mikaela and Reno's attention again. He then bit his lip but shook his head. "Uh, Elena. I got a question for you. If you're 16, then why are you in a night club? I mean, don't your parents think you're a little too young to be in one?"

Elena just smiled, not looking offended or touched by his concern. She just smiled as she leaned back in her chair while a waiter was pouring iced water for Sam and Mikaela. "In all honesty, Sam, my parents won't care what I do. They've always let me do whatever I wanted. You can call me a little spoiled if you want. I get it all the time at private school." She shook her head with a shrug. "They are never really around anyways to tell me off for anything." She paused for a second before looking right into Sam's eyes. "My Guardian, however, keeps me in line. She's always watching over me and making sure I don't get into trouble. She's very protective, if I might add. She almost didn't let me meet with you and Mikaela. She doesn't like the fact that I came in Las Vegas on my own. She hates it when I do. But if I ever needed her," She smiled even more coyly. "She's close by enough to come to my aid if I needed help. She's not here because she's not really a people person. She hates people other than me. But enough about that for a moment. Why don't we order?"

Sam and Mikaela nodded, feeling a little famished as it was. They sat down and thanked the waiter that gave them their menu before having to wait for their food to arrive. No one spoke for a while as they waited but looked around at the area. But after five minutes of silence, Sam looked back at Elena, clearing his throat. "Ca-Can I ask you another question, Elena?" he asked, hesitating again.

Smiling, Elena nodded. "Shoot, Sam. You can ask me anything you want." She stated, not flirting this time.

Sam made a side glance at Mikaela who returned it but then he shook his head as he looked back at their pretty host, trying to think of a way to lace his words together without getting weird about the whole ordeal. "Um...well, it's just something you said at the car rally today. You kept indicating that my car was...well, you kept talking as if it was a person. Can I ask...?"

"Why I kept calling it a He instead of an It?" Elena asked, smiling but she nodded as she took a sip of her cherry cola. Then she lift her head higher, almost tossing it back in a flaunting way. "Sam, all cars have their own little personalities. Either they are made out of metal and don't breathe or not. Cars are like people in a way. They have their own personalities and traits. I like to think of them as people, call me weird or whatever." She smiled when Sam's eyes lit up. "And you agree with me, don't you?"

Sam could only shrug, not trusting himself to say anything. He really felt like blurting out the truth and asking her if she knew about the Cybertronians on Earth.

Shaking her head, Elena looked down her finger nails, admiring them for a second before lifting her eyes and looking into Sam's eyes again. "Your car is a muscle car, Sam. So obviously, if it could turn into a human, I think it would be a male. So that's why I kept calling it, He. Or do you picture it as a female? Should I call him a She? Will She mind?" She asked, almost teasingly.

"Uh...no. He sounds good." Sam said grimacing to even think about calling Bumblebee a She. He could already picturing the young Autobot throwing a fit already and lashing out his blaster gun and threatening Elena to never call him a girl again. He knew that his male pride might get dented a little and he'd take it too serious. "So...then your car, the Lotus. It would be a..."

Elena only smiled at him as she tilted her head to the side. "My Lotus is a She. I call her Spi..." She bit her lip trying to think of something. "Well, it doesn't really matter what I call her. She's been in my family for about a year or two now. My father was who bought her and then decided to give her to me after he was in a car accident. It wasn't in her but he really couldn't drive again after his accident. I suppose you can say...it killed his legs." She said smiling. "But either way, she works well with me."

Mikaela tilted her head and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Elena. "So you weren't really being serious about giving Sam your Lotus for his Camaro." She said, making it more like a question.

The blonde shook her head just giving Mikaela a smile. She looked up just as the waiters came back with everyone's food and waited till they were all settled again. She played with her fork for a moment. "No. I wasn't being serious. I love that car more than anything. I wouldn't give her up for all the money in the world, or anything. She's very special to me. I would die before I let anything happen to her." She shrugged again. "Wouldn't you, Sam? Would you die for your Camaro?" She asked, innocently.

Sam had to think about that for a minute. He wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question. Sure, he loved Bumblebee. The Autobot was his best friend and had done so much to make sure he and Mikaela stayed safe. But to think about dying to protect Bee, he knew very well that his Autobot friend would hate him for getting himself killed by just trying to protect him. But the more that he thought about it, he realized that he would do anything to protect Bumblebee as much as the Autobot would do for him. So he nodded only once as he met Elena's eyes. He saw Mikaela also nod as if she was agreeing with him. And he knew she was. He knew that Bee meant as much to her as she did to him and Sam. "Yeah. I think I would. My car is special enough to try and protect."

"Boy, you kids and your fondness for your cars." Reno chuckled shaking his head, making all of them look at him. "I love cars but it goes to show that you love them a lot more than I do. I don't think I would die for just a car."

Shrugging, Elena just smiled at him. "Maybe you haven't found your special car yet, Reno." She told him before looking around at everyone again.

There was another brief silence before Mikaela's head came up and she looked at Elena, almost seriously. "Elena, now I have a question to ask." She paused for a second then her face darkened with thought. "How long has Trent had his Porsche? The GT9 is brand new so when did he even get it?"

Narrowing her eyes in thought, Elena shook her head as she thought about it. She looked almost lost for a second before she shrugged, not looking concerned with it at all. "He's had it for a couple of weeks now. It's to replace the truck he totaled last month." She smiled when both Sam and Mikaela looked surprised. "Don't feel concerned for him, guys. He did it on purpose. He claims that he accidently parked it by a cliff and it slid down the slope, getting trashed to no other." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "But I know better."

Sam pulled a face as he thought about it. "So he decided to get a car? Why didn't he just get his dad to buy him another truck?" He asked, frowning.

Elena looked right into Sam's eyes and stared into them for a good long moment, which made him uneasy again. There was something about that look in her eyes that he didn't like. She looked almost too serious at that question that he asked. It was like she was thinking about a whole different answer besides the one he wanted to hear. For a moment, she didn't say anything but stared at him but then she sat up straighter and looked away, almost as if she wasn't going to answer. "Sam, what do you know about Trent? Have you even met his parents before?" She asked, turning her eyes back onto him.

Sam, Mikaela and Reno looked at her before letting their eyes flicker over to each other then back at her. They weren't too sure where Elena was going with this but it was completely changing the subject a little. Both Sam and Mikaela had to shake their heads though as they thought about it. "Um, no. I've seen his parents a few times but never actually met them. Trent's dad goes to every football game and he seems to be really into them. He's always cheering Trent on and always yelling at him to do something on the field. He seems to like football as much as Trent does."

There was almost something sad about Elena's smile as she looked away but shook her head. "No. You're wrong about that one, Sam. Trent hates football." She told them quietly.

Bewildered, Sam and Mikaela gave her a doubtful look. They weren't really sure about that. "What? No he doesn't. He totally loves it. he's always playing it and talking about it. I swear, when we were together, that was all he ever talked about." Mikaela protested.

Still smiling a rather sad smile, Elena shook her head. "Trust me. I know what I'm talking about, Mikaela." She looked away for a second before looking back at them. "Trent's father, my uncle was my mother's older brother. So that's how we're related to each other. When he was in High School, he was so competitive and he absolutely loved football. All that mattered was football. He worshipped it, practically. It sometimes annoyed my mom when that was all that he ever talked about. He was always playing and talking about it, like Trent does. And he swore that one day, he'd be one of the biggest football stars ever in the professional world." She shook her head, making a face. "He didn't come close to it. In his Senior year, my uncle played in the last game of the season, the Championship and was going to sign on for a Football Scholarship. That was something he dreamed about and would die doing. He won the game with his team and there was this party that night."

"I can already see where this is going." Reno said, grimly.

Nodding, Elena merely glanced at him before looking back at Sam and Mikaela. "There was alcohol that night at the party and my uncle drank a lot. When he tried driving home, he got into a car accident and his right leg was crushed. It was so bad that he couldn't play football again. Ever. His accident crushed his dream of becoming a Professional Football player." She nodded again when Sam and Mikaela winced as if just thinking about it hurt them. "It was his own stupidity of getting drunk that killed his dream. But he came up with another dream. He would make his son a Football All Star. From the day that Trent could even walk, he taught him how to play football. He always shoved him football camps and was always telling him to play to win. No matter what. From Peewee Football to High School Football, Trent had to play because his dad wanted him to." She shook her head this time. "But it's not what Trent wants. I know that because he told me at our family's last gathering. "He wants to be a vet." She said smiling.

Sam and Mikaela's eyes snapped wide open to hear that. "Wh-What? He wants to be..."

"That's right." Elena said smiling. "Trenton DeMarco wants to be an Animal Doctor. He loves animals so much. He's always wanted pets but his dad just hates them. He thinks animals are filthy beasts that just needs to be locked up and contained. He's always been the one to say no when Trent tries to bring home a stray. But as a substitute, my uncle started buying things to keep Trent content. He always bought him whatever my cousin wanted to keep him distracted from animals. Bikes, skateboards, scooters, you name it. I swear to God Trent must have every single game consol there is on the market." She rolled her eyes at the thought. "But...it's not what Trent wants. He really wanted a dog."

Not liking where this was going, Sam tilted his head to the side. He was actually very surprised of what he was learning about Trent DeMarco, the boy who had spent most of their childhood picking on him and trying to make his life a living hell just because he won Mikaela's heart. "Did he ever get one?" he tried to ask, though uneasily.

Another sad smile graced Elena's lips but she shook her head. "The reason why Trent trashed his truck." She paused shaking her head again. "A few months ago, Trent accidently hit a dog with his truck. It was still alive when he got out and checked it but it was in bad shape. he was so mad at himself for what he did. He was only glad that he didn't kill it. So he took it home to nurse it back to health. But like I said, my uncle hates animals. So he tried to keep it a secret by keeping the dog hidden in some old fort he had built when he was a kid." She shrugged, smiling again. "Trent took care of the dog's injuries, fed it, watered it, and took care of it for weeks until it could walk again. He started to fall in love with it and wanted to keep it."

"But Trent's dad wouldn't let him?" Reno asked, his eyes narrowing a little in thought.

Elena nodded as she looked away. "Trent went to school one day, leaving the dog in the fort. But the problem was it was pretty hot that day and the dog was starting to miss him so it started barking, calling for Trent. Well...my uncle heard it." She made a pained face as she looked right at Sam. "End of story, Trent came home with a ham bone for the dog and found it dead in the fort, with a bullet in its head." She told him, Mikaela and Reno.

It really couldn't be helped as Mikaela slapped a hand over her mouth and looking horrified. "Oh my god!" She gasped with horror.

Sam slowly shook his head as he listened to the entire thing. He couldn't believe that Trent's dad was like that though. It brought a sour taste to his mouth to think of what he would be like if his father was like Trent's. "Geez. I didn't know that it was that bad over at Trent's. I always thought that...well, I thought they were like this perfect rich family." he remarked.

Elena shook her head with a dry laugh. "Oh, believe me. They are far away from being a perfect rich family. Rich, yes. But perfect is definitely a no. Trent was so pissed off at his dad that he wrecked the truck, claiming that it was an accident and my uncle believed him, already forgetting about the dog. So my uncle bought the Porsche for my cousin. Trent even talked him into signing it over to him under his own name. So it belongs to Trent. He even promised to sign up for Football Boot camp that's going on this summer." She then smiled very slyly. "Problem was, the sign ups were today."

All three, Sam, Mikaela and Reno slowly smiled as they already caught onto what she was getting at. Slowly, Reno nodded. "But...he's been here, in Las Vegas at the car rally." He then laughed when Elena nodded innocently. "Jesus, talking about the perfect revenge. Or a foot in the ass."

Elena only shrugged. "Exactly. When Trent found out about the car rally and that I was helping sponsoring it, he practically begged me to let him come with me just so that he could miss the sign ups. I almost didn't let him but figured it was fun pissing off my uncle. He can be such an ass. Trent's already told me what he has planned. He's going to quit football and go to vet school. He's had it planned out for a long time as it is. He's got the Porsche signed to his name so when the shit does hit the fan, he just needs to drive away and go off to Animal Health School."

Sam couldn't help but smile and shake his head. "Wow. This explains a lot about Trent. I didn't know he had it this bad." He remarked.

"Yeah, well no one really knows about his relationship with his dad. They all think he's really tight with him but he's really not. They really don't get along at home. With my aunt, well, I love her but she seriously needs to grow a backbone." Elena remarked dryly. "She lets my uncle walk all over Trent and doesn't do anything about it. She just sits back and lets it all happen. I know Trent can be a real ass now and then but he's really is a good guy when you get to know him. I'm actually working on turning him into a good boy. That's why I've been helping him lately." She told them.

Mikaela was now smiling, feeling at least a little respect for the blonde beauty sitting from across her now. She was starting to see a different side of her now. And Trent, for that matter. But then she frowned as if she thought of something. "So, why are you telling us this? What do you expect from us?" She asked.

Elena paused for a moment as she looked into her eyes thoughtfully. She only stared at Mikaela for a moment before looking at Sam. "Sam, I know you don't get along with Trent and I know that you two really hate each other. But...if Trent was ever in trouble, and I mean serious trouble, would you help him?" She asked, carefully.

Sam stared at her, almost surprised to answer. He knew that if Trent was ever in trouble, there was no way he'd go to him, Sam Witwicky for help. He knew that the jock would die before doing that. But...if Trent ever was in trouble and he knew about it, he figured that he might help him. So he just nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. I could try and help him. But there's no way he'd accept my help. He hates me because Mikaela fell for me." He admitted.

"I don't care what Trent would do or wouldn't do, Sam." Elena said smiling. "I only care that if he gets into trouble, he'll have someone that would help him. Believe it or not after today's little scene, Trent and I are close. We do get along okay now and then. He gets annoyed when I try to butt in and help him and sometimes even tell him what to do. Who wouldn't if someone's younger cousin kept telling them what to do? I just don't trust Trent's friends that he has now. I've met them and they all seem like a bunch of pricks. I know that if Trent got into serious trouble, they'd just back away and leave him to deal with it on his own. But you..." She narrowed her eyes gently. "You're different. You and Mikaela. I saw that when I offered my Lotus to you as a trade for your Camaro. That's mostly why I did it. I was testing to see exactly how loyal you were."

At that instant, Sam remembered that he had wanted to question Elena about who "She" was that might have something to say if something bad happened to Bumblebee. He then tilted his head to the side, looking curious. "Elena, before at the car rally, you said something about how someone would have something to say if anything bad happened to my car. Who is this she you were talking about?" He asked, carefully.

Elena's eyes lit up as if she was taken by surprised and she even opened her mouth as if to say something. She looked almost embarrassed that she had slipped but something else caught her eyes. She looked up and then her face lit up. "Oh, wow. You don't see that every day."

Frowning, Sam, Mikaela and Reno stared at her for a few seconds before turning to see what she was talking about only to freeze. There were two meteors streaming across the sky, entering the atmosphere from the darkness of space. The two were about the same size and shape, yet there was something different about them. But it really didn't matter to Sam and Mikaela as they shot to their feet and watched as the meteors race over the building nearly a hundred feet up. They felt their breath catch within their chest as they watched them before looking at each other. They knew that it had to be more Cybertronians! They could only hope that it was Autobots and not Decepticons. Either way, they had to get to Bumblebee right now and follow after them to find out.

"Elena, sorry to have to run but we have go!" Sam said hurriedly as he looked at Elena.

Reno just frowned in surprise as he looked up at the two as they stood up quickly and gathered their jackets, ready to leave. He didn't seem to notice that Elena was only smiling in understanding. He was just confused that they were running off. "Whoa, whoa! Wait a second. Where you going?" He asked confused.

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another with uneasy looks. They weren't even sure how they were going to explain why they were leaving. But they knew they had to go. Sam's cell phone was already ringing and it was the ring tone that he had specifically chosen out for Bumblebee, which was necessarily "Flight of the Bumblebee," the rock version. Sam grimaced, trying to think of the right thing to say. But Mikaela beat him to it. "Sam and I are in an Astronomy club together!" She lied quickly, smiling faintly. "Extra credit for Graduation. Whenever we see a shooting star or comets, we're suppose to call the others and record it in some kind of log."

Happy that she thought of something so quick, Sam still felt nervous and was sure that Elena would take it wrongly that they were running out on their date. He spared her a glance, expecting to see a very annoyed look but he was surprised to see her smiling.

"Have fun then." The pretty blonde simply said, waving her fingers at them.

Still surprised, Sam tried to smile back as he grabbed Mikaela's hand before they were hurrying as fast as they could out of the room to the elevator. He was just glad that Elena was pissed. He knew that they were being very rude to leaving so soon but the new arrival of Autobots were more important, in their opinion.

As far as Sam and Mikaela could tell, the two fiery balls were acting a little odd. They stayed by each other the entire time as they fell out of the air, streaming into the Nevada desert near Las Vegas. They even began to spiral around each other, as if the Cybertronians were actually in control of their fall. That is until they bumped each other by accident and one changed course a little and went crashing right into a large junk yard just a mile away from where the two teens were at. And it wasn't exactly the best looking crash either. It was hard enough to make Sam and Mikaela wince as if they might have felt that crash. It was that one they decided to go after first. Just to see if the Cybertronian, possibly Autobot was okay.

Still, hopefully it was an Autobot and not something else.

Along the way, Bumblebee finally caught up to them and drove beside the violet RetroSBK, making both Sam and Mikaela smile as they drove through the now totaled gates of the junk yard. They knew they had to be careful though while being there. The owner could have easily been there or there could have been some junk yard dogs.

Mikaela stopped the RetroSBK in a clearing and they both climbed off, looking around for where the Cyber meteor might have fell and eventually they saw the fiery trail that it left across the ground. They weren't too surprised to see that there was nothing but fiery debris left in the crater.

"Looks like he got out okay." Sam said, looking around, hoping to see the Cybertronian before he looked at Bumblebee. "Hey, Bee. Can you find him on your radar?"

"Searching...searching..." Bumblebee's radio crackled. "...Somewhere I Belong...We shall find what we are searching for!...Affirmative...somewhere I belong! Split...Up, Up, Up." 

Mikaela and Sam just nodded as they got the message. They knew that Bumblebee could sense the Autobot, or Decepticon somewhere in the junk yard. They just needed to find him. So they would split up. So Sam pointed in the direction he was heading towards. "I'll go this way and see if he's hiding over here." He told his girlfriend and his best friend.

"Okay. I'll go this way then." Mikaela said as she began hurrying in a different direction while Bee backed up and went another way.

Sam began wandering large hills of scrape metal and just looking for any movement at all. That, or glowing blue or red eyes. It was pretty dark in the junk yard and it did make him a little uneasy. He just hoped that there weren't any bums wandering around the yard, looking for things to barter in the city. He really did not want to get jumped by anyone.

"Hello?" He called as he looked around, feeling somewhat uneasy that he was raising his voice. "Heeeeelllllo! Someone here?!" He jumped a little when he heard another voice before letting out a sigh when he realized that Mikaela was doing the same thing that he was. So with a shrug, he kept it up. "Hey! I know you're here somewhere! We saw you fall! We just want to see if you're okay!" He paused looking around, his eyes pausing on a large unsteady looking pile of junk. He grimaced and took a step back away from it before turning and looking off into the darkness. "Hey! Autobot! My name is Sam Witwicky! I'm a friend of Optimus Prime's and the other Autobots! You can come out!"

"Heh." came a sharp laugh from somewhere behind him. "You really shouldn't shout stuff like that. Because how do you know I'm an Autobot? I could be a Decepticon."

Jumping with alarm, Sam jerked around, stepping back only to step on an old skateboard and it slid sharply right out from under him. He yelped in alarm as he went slamming down onto the ground, hitting his head and making him groan in pain. But it wasn't enough to make things worst. The skateboard, itself, sped across the ground and hit the unstable junk pile. And trusting Sam's bad luck, it just made the junk pile tilt and start falling over.

Towards Sam.

"SHIT!" Sam yelled out before flipping himself over onto his side and covering his head. "BUMBLEBEE!"

There was a loud crash of metal and shattering of glass as the pile fell right on top of Sam, but not before something rushed forward and scooped him up, causing him to yell out in surprise as he was brought quickly against a hard metal chest. And then it went dark with only the echoes of metal falling over one another.

Mikaela heard the loud crash and had jerked around to see a junk pile falling over. That was nothing new to her. She knew that junk piles were always unstable and she wasn't surprised to have watched one fall over. But what nearly stopped her was hearing Sam cursing very loud before yelling for Bumblebee. She realized that his voice just came from the direction of the junk fall. Her eyes growing wide, felt her body grow very cold and still before she bolted towards the junk pile as fast as she could. "SAM!" She screamed as she ran fast as she could.

Bumblebee also heard the commotion and his fenders nearly curled when he heard Mikaela screaming so high tailed it in the direction of where her voice was coming from. He arrived just as fast as she did, transforming quickly and looking wide eyed at the junk pile. "Sam!" He called before grabbing at the pile and trying to push at the rubble.

However, the pile, itself began to shift, making him jerk back and raise his blaster cannon, while grabbing a screaming Mikaela with his other hand to protect her from whatever was under the pile.

It was just as a loud whirl of a siren came and a revving engine also arrived.

Mikaela's head turned sharply to see a familiar yellow-green Search and Rescue Hummer drove up right behind the large, black GMC truck with two passengers sitting in the cab. As soon as the truck stopped, Lennox and Epps were jumping out of him and taking a quick step back as the Weapons Specialist began transforming with Ratchet.

There was another loud revv and an electric blue Porsche quickly shoved past another pair of gates, entering the yard with a bright yellow 2010 Chevrolet Grand Sport Corvette driving right behind it. That was a car that Mikaela didn't recognize but figured that it must have been the other arrival. She was only too happy to see the large, badass Peterbilt truck came into the yard from behind Ratchet and quickly began to shift and transform with the others just as the junk pile was pushed aside, revealing a large silver and black Transformer.

"Ugh. Ow. That fragging hurt! I think a bath tub landed on my head!"

Bumblebee let out a whistling sigh before lowering his cannon and putting Mikaela back down. She, on the other hand, was looking around with worry before she noticed Sam sitting in Cybertronian's curled hand, safely against his chest and hyperventaling after his little death defying experience just now. But he looked okay. So it was Mikaela's time to sigh with relief.

The, obviously, silver and black mech looked around before grinning as he lowered Sam to the ground gently before pushing himself to standing up. He waved at the other Autobots, who all let out a sigh when they saw him and the bright yellow mech, who Mikaela and Sam definitely didn't recognize. "Heya! Looks like we landed in the right spot! We found the boss!" The silver and black Autobot said cheerfully.

"Sideswipe." Optimus Prime chuckled as he stood up to his full height, which was a good deal bigger than the two new arrivals. "Sunstreaker." Then he turned his attention onto the electric blue mech, looking very surprised to see him. "Hot Rod."

Looking at the three new Autobots, Sam and Mikaela were very surprised to see that 'Sideswipe' and 'Sunstreaker' were almost identical to each other. They could have been easily been mistaken as a mirror image of one another if not for slight differences. The bright yellow Autobot was a little taller and thinner than the silver and black one. Plus the colors. But it was only obvious that the yellow one had to be Sunstreaker. He was sunny yellow so it had to be.

Hot Rod, however, looked somewhat similar to their old comrade and friend, Jazz. He was about the same size as the formerly alive Autobot, yet maybe slightly bigger in size. He reached Ironhide's shoulders just fine and he was a pretty big guy. He was an electric blue color, just like his alternative form; with addition of grey-white strips on his shoulders and around his feet. He also had a grey-white face guard covering the upper part of his face, which looked more like shades.

"Optimus Prime, sir." Sunstreaker spoke with great respect, his voice almost like Sideswipe's, yet his voice was deeper and quieter while Sideswipe's voice was energetic and bright.

"Ugh, Frag. Did it seriously have to be you two?" Ironhide grumbled, obviously not liking the two new arrivals, much like how he had not liked it being Hot Rod when Bumblebee revealed him. He was eyeing all three new Autobots with distaste and even starting to heat up his cannons, as if he was going to start shooting them. "The Troublesome Trio are back together."

Of course, Ratchet didn't look any happier than Ironhide did. He actually a look of pain on his face as he eyed the two with distaste.

The three new Autobots looked at him before glancing at one another and three evil smiles curled on all three of their faces. Sideswipe only chuckled as he rubbed his metallic hands together and looking like he was about to pounce on Ironhide. "Hi, Ironhide. Still mad at us?" He asked, in a singsong.

Growling, Ironhide rose his cannons sharply and aimed them at the silver and black mech. "Mad? You put rocks in my cannons while I was recharging, Sides! Why in the name of Primus would I ever be mad at little punks like you?!" He growled.

Sam, Mikaela, Epps and Lennox couldn't help but laugh as they watched the interaction between their Autobot friends and the new arrivals, which caught their attention. Sideswipe bent down closer to them, his beautiful glowing blue eyes on Sam as he moved slightly too close, causing the human teenager to back up a little. "Hey, Human. You a'ight? That was some fall you had before the scrap metal fell on us." He said, tilting his head to the side.

"Sam, you're not hurt are you?" Optimus asked, now concerned after remembering about the metal fall.

The young man just looked from Sideswipe to Optimus before rubbing the back of his head and wincing a little. "Yeah, uh, no! I just hit my head on the ground. But I don't think it's anything serious." He remarked.

Of course, Ratchet decided to scan Sam to make sure and as he did so, everyone glanced at him as they watched the red beam shoot from the medicbot's wrist, running all over Sam before he lowered his arm again and nodded. "It's just a minor bump. Nothing too critical. You will be fine, Sam." He reassured him.

"So, who are these humans?" Sunstreaker asked, now frowning and not sounding exactly too thrilled that the humans knew about them. His tone made all four humans frown at him, confused by how unhappy he sounded.

Optimus just turned slightly, looking appreciatively towards Sam, Mikaela and the two soldiers, giving them all a metallic smile as he placed his fists onto his waist. "These are some of our human allies, my friends. Captain William Lennox and Sergeant Robert Epps of the Earth's United States Air Force. Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, who as you may realize are younglings but they did help us a great deal in fighting against the Decepticons." He introduced the four humans before motioning to the two newly arrived Autobots. "My young friends, these two of our greatest soldiers. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Front Line Soldiers. They are two of my finest soldiers." He then turned his attention onto Hot Rod. "I see you've met Hot Rod, one of my Spy Changers, which are Autobot espionage specialists. Ironhide reported to me of how you came to meet."

That drew everyone's attention to the electric blue Autobot, who was only nodding to Optimus to confirm it. Sam just moved slightly closer to him, waving a hand to catch the shortest Autobot's attention. "Yeah, about that. Why are you hanging around as Trent's Porsche? Does he even know that you've snuck off?"

"Heh," Hot Rod snorted as he folded his arms and tilted his head to the side. "No. I snuck off while he was asleep." He then shrugged. "And to be honest, he might be a punk, but he's really not that bad. Yeah, it hurt when he slammed down my hood earlier today and I think he might have dented me a little but I've been watching the punk lately. He's not so bad, though. I became his Porsche when I saw him playing 'Football'. He seemed to be some kind of Captain of his squadron, so I decided to stick with him for a while."

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another before shrugging as they looked back up at Hot Rod, frowning. "Hey, got another one for you. How come Bumblebee and me won the race when you're a Porsche? Porsches are suppose to be faster than Camaros." He said, wonderingly.

The electric blue Autobot snorted with laughter as he glanced side wards at the spoken yellow and black mech before shaking his head as he looked back at Sam and Mikaela. "Sla-ag. I might have chosen the form of a Porsche but BB, over there, is one of the fastest Cybertronians we had on Cybertron. He's as fast as that Decepti-scum, Barricade, and that freak was the fastest mech on the Planet. On wheels, anyway. The fastest would probably be Starscream or Jetfire," His eyes then lit up as he looked over at Optimus. "Oh, yeah! Optimus, speaking of the devilbot. Jetfire's somewhere on Earth. He arrived about the time that I did. Which, was at least six months ago." He shrugged. "The only reason why you couldn't detect me or him, well, you know Jetfire's reason but mine, I ran into a comet on my way in. So my navigational system was down as well as my Communications." He held up a hand when Ratchet sighed impatiently. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, Ratch. I fixed them. As for Jet, well, you know him. He likes to play Hide and Seek."

"Jetfire." Optimus Prime breathed, sounding very pleased. Even the other Autobots were grinning and nodding their approval.

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another then at Epps and Lennox, who looked just as curious about who this 'Jetfire' was. "Jetfire?" Epps asked, voicing their thoughts. "Who'zat?"

Ironhide let out a short bark like laugh before folding his large arms over his big, brawny chest and looking down at the four humans. He looked as if he was mocking them a little but was nudged by Ratchet to keep his mouth shut. Instead, the medicbot smiled gently down at them. "Jetfire is the oldest of the Autobots and was quitethe master in battle. He was even once the Leader of the Autobots before he stepped down for Optimus to take over. He was even Optimus' mentor at one point. Taught Optimus most of what he knows now." He informed them.

Amazed, all four humans looked up at Optimus with awe.

"Whoa! Really?!" Mikaela asked, sounding a little excited. And Optimus nodded with a smile. He was amused by their reaction.

"Peh, He might be a legend among Cybertron, but he's such a grouch." Hot Rod remarked, dryly, which made everyone laugh a little as they watched him rub his back side as if it was causing him some pain.

Ironhide even started chuckling, finding Hot Rod's painful memory a little too amusing. "You're just still pissed because he caught you trying to stuff dirt into his thrusters while he was recharging and he beat you up for it." He said before bursting out with laughter when Hot Rod pouted at him.

However, at this time, Ratchet's senses went off and he was looking elsewhere, at something that was actually approaching them. And if any one of the four humans was actually paying attention, they would have seen that it was Mikaela's new Retro. The medical officer studied the bike for a moment before he smiled and looked at Optimus. "Optimus, it seems to me that we have another surprise guest." He said, catching everyone's attention.

Both Sam and Mikaela finally looked to where Ratchet was indicating before freezing when they saw the Retro. "Hey. I didn't park that there." The young woman said, before her breath caught as her eyes grew wide with realization.

"Hmm." Optimus chuckled as he turned fully towards the bike just as it clicked and began to transform. "Arcee. So it is you. I was sure I sensed you somewhere near by."

"Arcee!" Hot Rod said very brightly, his eyes and surprisingly Ironhide's grew very bright as they looked at the violet bike as it transformed. Of course, Sam, Mikaela, Lennox and Epps just watched with surprise and alarm. They hadn't even guessed that the RetroSBK was even a Cybertronian. It definitely took them by surprise.

The Retro's body twisted and turned before the Autobot stood up on the back wheel of the bike, which served as its legs. However, jaws dropped wide open when it was finally done transforming. For this Autobot was sure...female-ish looking. It looked almost like a robotic woman. And evidentially, it was because she spoke in a female's voice, bowing her head to Optimus. "Optimus Prime, sir. I received your message and I have come to rejoin your ranks." She said, in great respect.

"Holy shit! You have girl Autobots?!" Sam gasped as he stared at the female Autobot with shock, along with the other three humans.

Amused, the female, Arcee looked at him before making a sound as if she was laughing as she turned towards him and Mikaela. "Of course, there are females, Sam Witwicky. What, you really thought that all Cybertronians were males? Well," She shrugged, folding slender metal arms over her curved frame and looking like she was smiling at him. "I can see why you would think that. All of the mechs you've ever came across were all males. So I can understand your confusion." She then turned with a swirl, looking more like a dancer doing a spin and looking around at everyone, though her eyes stopped on Bumblebee, who was grinning at her and waving a hand once. "Hey, Bee. How's the voice box? Has it healed yet?"

"Houston, we have..." Bee's radio crackled before quickly switching. "A no-go!" 

Arcee shook her head as she tilted her head to the side. "Just hang in there, Bee. You'll be speaking just fine soon enough. Ratchet's never really failed before. It just takes time." She then looked at Hot Rod, her bright blue eyes darkening when he dropped his arm around her shoulders. She looked highly annoyed at his invasion of her personal boundaries. "Hot Rod." She said in more of a warning.

Hot Rod just grinned at her, reaching up and lifting up his grey-white visor to reveal his bright eyes, which were strangely the brightest blue that any of the humans had even seen before. They were even brighter blue than Optimus Prime's and he had the brightest blue out eyes out of all the Autobots. "Arcee, you're still looking hot as the sun as ever. Did you miss me?" He asked, almost hitting on her. He obviously had a thing for her.

"Hmm." Arcee hummed dryly before reaching up and grabbing his wrist, flinging his arm off of her shoulders. "Hot Rod, I see you still haven't grown into your name. Have you even grown up yet?" She asked, dryly, which he began to pout. But she ignored him as she rolled away from him and turned her attention onto Ironhide, smiling. "Hello, Ironhide." She said definitely in a flirtatious voice. She even added a wink towards the big Autobot.

What made things even more interesting was how Ironhide cleared his throat and began looking everywhere else other than Arcee. He looked highly bashful for someone who had such large cannons.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho!" Epps laughed loudly and lift a fist to his mouth while Lennox was just simply laughing with Sam and Mikaela. "Oh, this just got helluva interesting!"

Mikaela shook her head as she looked bright eyed between Arcee and Ironhide and eventually glanced over at a pouting Hot Rod, who dropped his shades back over his eyes, his shoulders raised a bit between his head. He was obviously throwing a little bit of a fit. "Ironhide, are you and Arcee...?" She asked with amusement.

Ironhide growled but looked away as if very embarrassed.

Arcee laughed softly as she rolled right over to the large Autobot and nudged him a little with her shoulder, which he didn't move away from her but tried not to look at her. "No. We're not spark-mates or anything." She then grinned as she looked up at her fellow Autobot. "Not yet, anyway." She said almost teasingly.

The Weapon Specialist made a sound as if he just choked on something and he drew back away from her as if she had stung him with something. All of the other Autobots just chuckled or shook their heads.

"Man, I do not want to know how you guys mate." Epps laughed again shaking his head.

It was Ratchet's turn snort with humor and shook his head. "Trust me, Sergeant Epps. You don't want to know. It'll probably just make you go into shock because you won't be able to comprehend what is even happening. Plus it's hard to explain in a way for you to understand. Of course, I could try and explain. You see, when two Cybertronians..." He told him.

"WHOA! HEY, HEY, HEY!" Epps shouted now covering his ears. "Now you're putting mental images in my head! Do not tell me that!"

Everyone just laughed or rolled their eyes, that being Hot Rod, who was still pouting a little. Arcee shook her head as she glanced up at Ironhide, who was looking everywhere else but at her. "No. I'm just kidding. Ironhide was once my mentor during the war. He taught me how to fight against Decepticons and has taught me how to shoot. And I do consider him one of my greatest comrades." She told the humans, nudging Ironhide again and grinning when he shouldered her right back, giving her a look of warning. But it was clear that if he really could, he'd be blushing.

Lennox and Epps just laughed as they high fived each other. "Now, this is what I call a good opportunity time to get some black mail material for all of those car seats that Ironhide keeps trashing." The Captain remarked.

"Shut yer trap, Lennox!" Ironhide growled.

"Okay, okay. Now if we're all done chattering, if no one has actually noticed, I am naked here." Sideswipe remarked, but he was grinning as he sent a wink to Mikaela, who blushed and Sam started glaring up at the nearly 20 foot robot.

Optimus Prime just chuckled as he looked down at his Front Line Soldier. He was highly amused that everyone seemed to be getting along just fine. "Yes. We should probably find something for Sideswipe to scan so he can take form. It won't be long before the local authorities arrive here to investigate the meteor crash." he said, looking around at everyone.

Ratchet nodded as he was scanning the desert before motioning off towards the east. "Yes. I sense the humans are already sending authorities here now. They should be arriving in about ten minutes. I suggest we head to the North East, therefore we can go right around them. I believe that is where we found Sunstreaker. Perhaps Sideswipe would like to take the form of one of the vehicles they have at that Automobile shop." He suggested.

"Hey, as long as I get something to wear. I know the ladies likes to see my parts but seriously...OW!" Sideswipe had joked before yelping when both Ironhide and Sunstreaker slapped the mech hard over the head and nearly sending him flying forward. Either way, Mikaela was laughing while Sam remained to glare at the new Autobot.

Not more than about ten minutes later, Sideswipe had taken the form of a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, which was a cousin to the Chevrolet Grand Sport that Sunstreaker had taken form of.

It was around this time, Sam and Mikaela learned that they were twin brothers, which they had been surprised to learn that there even was such relations. It was rather odd to even think about Sideswipe and Sunstreaker being twin brothers though. They definitely had different personalities, even if they did look almost exactly alike. Sideswipe was overly cheerful and friendly while Sunstreaker really wasn't. He was a little cold and stoic and he really didn't seem to like humans too much. He did keep giving the four humans rather dry stares as they waited for Sideswipe to choose his new alternative form.

Eventually, Epps nodded to him, somewhat annoyed. "What're you looking at?" He asked, shortly, making the other Autobots glance over at the yellow mech with a frown. Sunstreaker just narrowed his eyes at the dark skinned human before looking away, not even bothering to answer. "Geez, is it just me or is he not the friendliest Autobot?"

"You will have to excuse Sunstreaker, Sergeant." Ratchet remarked eyeing Sunstreaker. "He isn't one of our friendliest soldiers and he is very slow to trusting anyone. Even fellow Autobots. In all honesty, the only ones he truly trusts is Sideswipe and Optimus." He explained. He was ignored by Sunstreaker though. But he chuckled softly as if he found something very amusing. "He's only apart of the Troublesome Trio, as Ironhide puts them, just because he goes along with Sideswipe and Hot Rod to make sure they stay out complete trouble. Though," He now spoke dryly, giving the two twins a very dark look. "They like to pick on me as well.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker smirked evilly at the medicbot and both Ratchet and Ironhide growled.

Optimus just chuckled but shook his head as he turned his eyes onto the stars high above the Earth. There was a look of peace over him and it was rather nice to see it on the large Leader. 'Finally. We're coming together.' He thought with satisfaction.


	6. Sneaking Out

It had been a long night and he was still up filling out reports about what he learned from the NBE-A1, which he knew very well was the Leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. John Keller had just gotten off the phone with the notorious leader and had learned about the two new Autobot arrivals, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, which, again, he knew very well was going to be end up known as NBE-A6 and NBE-A7. Not to mention that there had been three other Autobots running around and Prime had told the Secretary of Defense of why they hadn't been found out.

According to NBE-A1, aka Optimus Prime, 'God, I hate trying to remember all of those stupid numbers and letters,' Keller thought, NBE-A8, aka Arcee, was a Femme Valkyrie. Apparently, they were the most difficult to detect by human radars and even for Autobot/Decepticon sensors. The only way of actually detecting them was to be close to one.

NBE-A9, aka Hot Rod, was a Spy Changer. They were very difficult to detect and even catch by any humans. This was why S7 had such a hard time trying to track down NBE-A5, aka Bumblebee. They had only caught him because the two young teenagers who were always hanging around the Autobots, Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes were in trouble at the time and the youngest of the Autobots had came back to help them. That was how they caught him.

And now there was an NBE-A10, aka Jetfire running around somewhere and they had to try and find him.

'Ugh! Forget it! I am not going to remember all of those letters and numbers. I'll just call them by their names.' The Secretary thought grumpily as he ran a hand through his snowy white hair.

Not more than a few minutes ago, he had made the orders to assist the Autobots to locating their lost comrade, Jetfire and made sure that his people knew very well that they were suppose to keep it under wraps. According to Optimus Prime, the Autobot they were now looking for was an aerial Cybertronian, so it was more than likely he had taken the form of a plane or a jet. So it was aerial vehicles that the US Army and Air force were supposed to look for. Not to mention, he had to establish a new department much like Sector Seven, only they were not going to capture and experiment on the Cybertronians. He was still working on it though.

"Mr. Secretary, there is a gentleman from Pentagon's World Communications department on the line for you." came the voice of his own secretary through the phone. "He's on Line 7." 

Sighing, Keller pushed the intercom button and folded his hands together. He had been hoping that he could just go home and join his family for the evening but it didn't look like it was heading in that direction. "This is Secretary of Defense, John Keller. Who is this and what can I do for you?" he asked, wearily but kept the authority in his voice.

"Mr. Secretary, my name is Gordan Yearsley at the Pentagon. I'm one of the World Security Analysts that deals with our alien allies. I was hired to analyze all communication channels carefully and listen for anything that might deal with the Autobot..."

"Yes, yes, Gordan. I know what your job is and what you do. Can you just skip to the point? I am a little busy at the moment." Keller said, not even hiding the weariness from his tone.

"Forgive me, sir." The Analyst apologized, pausing for only a mere second. "Sir, I picked up a communications signal from Russia, in the city of Saratov 32 hours ago. There was report a crank call to the Local Government by a young woman, which she was reprimanded for it. But the report itself is what caught my interest. She stated that," He hesitated for a second, as if he was actually looking at the report on the other line. "She stated that her father, who is an officer on the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon submarine and his fellow officers were in danger by an alien robot."

Keller sat up abruptly and looked more awake than he did moments ago. He frowned at the phone while tilting his head to the side. "An alien robot? In Russia? What else does the report say?" He asked very seriously.

"The report was filed as a crank call, sir. But as far as I know, she clearly said that her father sent her a strange signal that the submarine's computers picked up and he didn't understand it. Apparently she's quite a computer whizz and a possible hacker so she understood it all right and she believes it to be the language of one of the alien robots that attacked Mission City in Nevada." 

The Secretary frowned as he listened to the report with a confused look on his face but shook his head. "How in God's name does she know about the battle in Mission City?! We had that cleared up! No one knows about it but the Governments! And we made sure to collect all of the security footages of the Autobots fighting the Decepticons! So how did she get a hold of it?!"

"I really don't know, sir. It's possible that she caught sight of them before we had them locked up. I just thought you might want to know about the report." 

Keller only nodded as he let out a frustrated sigh. He didn't like this. He knew very well that there had been a breach by a foreign citizen and there were claims that there was a giant robot in Russia. He didn't like this, one bit. "Yes, I definitely wanted to hear about this, officer. What about the girl? Did you look up any information about her yet?" he asked.

"Well, I wasn't suppose to because it was against the unity standards between the US and the Russian Government. But I did it anyway, which I will apologize for, sir. As far as I understand, what she's been saying about herself is true. She is the daughter of an officer aboard the Typhoon sub and she is an IT Freshman at the Saratov University, studying Computer Sciences and Intelligence and Research. I have taken a look at her record and she is very intelligent, sir. She doesn't seem to be the kind who makes up stories. But it doesn't add up of why there would be a Cybertronian in Russia, sir. If I am wrong, or at least the reports about them is, Cybertronians can't take the icy cold very well. Isn't that how we got a hold of NBE-D1 in the first place?" 

"Damn that Simmons and his stupid numbers and letters." Keller growled but shook his head. "Yes, officer. That is how we did get a hold of Megatron in the first place. But I am not going to take any chances at all. I don't like the idea of some girl, even if she is from Russia, hacking into our network and learning about the Autobots and the Decepticons. That information was classified. Thank you for informing me but keep a constant watch on this girl then. If she makes any more accusations, you will inform me right away." he told him.

"Yes, sir."

And the connection was closed.

Keller folded his hands together under his chin and looked off at the wall very thoughtfully. He didn't like this. If there really was a Cybertronian in Russia, this did make things pretty difficult to taken care of it. It be Autobot or Decepticon. He didn't understand how or why there'd be a Cybertronian in one of the coldest places on earth, where it would obviously freeze but the question was how they missed it in the first place.

He decided that he wasn't going to alert the Autobots just yet.

Picking up his phone, he dialed a few numbers before waiting for someone to pick up the line. There were a few rings before someone did. Keller just turned his chair and looked up at the world map hanging on his office wall. "This is Secretary of Defense, John Keller. We have a situation that I want you and your team to handle. I don't know the seriousness of it just yet but I don't want to take any chances. This will be a classified mission so keep it quiet. Your team is to pack up very thick winter clothes because you are going to Russia. I want you there within 12 to 24 hours if you can."

 

It had been nearly three days now since she even spoke to her father though Instant Message and found out what he was up against. And since then, she had been in a panic. She had tried again and again to get back in touch with him, trying to see if he was okay. But nothing seemed to work. She knew that it was probably due to the fact that her father might be under the icy surface of the Kara Sea but it didn't stop her from trying nearly every hour for three days.

Yep. Anastasia Karpos was not a happy person.

Especially when she called into the Russian Embassy and started demanding to find out what happened to the crew aboard the TK-20 Typhoon. She had to know what happened to them, and her father. Of course, all she got was a sharp lecture that she didn't have the right to demand anything and a threat to be thrown into jail. Anya had tried to tell them of her suspicions of the Typhoon being a giant robot from outer space, but she just got laughed at before the phone was slammed down.

Thinking it through, Anya knew that her father had been right. Her own government didn't believe her and she knew what she needed to do. She knew she had to take things into her own hands by getting to the Americans and showing them the video footage that her father had sent her. They would believe her even if her own people didn't. So therefore, she had to get out of Russia quickly.

Anya Karpos was pretty smart for her age, the smartest in her class at the high school. She had been the smartest due to her father, Vladimir. He had always read her advanced books to her when she was just a child, which she was the younger of two sisters. She was 19 years old, being a freshman at the University while her older sister, Copella; Ella was what she preferred, was 23 years old and already a Third year college student. They were both smart because Vladimir had been pretty strict about their education. He made them read a lot when they were just kids. Though, the difference between the sisters was that Anya loved computers and technology just like her father while Ella was in love with teaching.

So when Anya called her sister, telling her in a frantic voice that their father was in danger from a giant robot from space, Ella didn't believe her. Since she was the more logical one.

The best that Anya could do next was just to try and go on her own. She didn't want to endanger her sister and mother anyway. She packed a bag full of her clothes and her laptop, got her passport and told her mother that she was going to the Americas for another IT Convention. True, it was not exactly the first time that she had ever been to the United States of America. She had been there once before during high School, going to a conference in Houston, Texas. And it was that particular trip that caused her to fall in love with heat. She loved the fact how she could wear less clothes than she usually did and no one cared. She remembered how on her first trip, she was nearly dying of heat because she had been wearing thick pants and a winter sweater.

Of course, then a girl not sitting too far away from her had noticed and then told her that she shouldn't try and commit suicide by wearing winter cloths. Anya had blushed and stated that it was inappropriate to wear anything less in Russia. The girl only laughed before dragging her out of the conference to her hotel room where she was staying.

"Welcome to America, dearie, where we don't try and give ourselves heat strokes by wearing winter sweaters in the middle of summer, in Houston, Texas." She had told her. Then she gave the Russian IT student a pair of capries and a halter top so that she wasn't dying of heat.

At first, Anya was very uncomfortable and kept protesting that that she shouldn't be showing too much skin. But the girl just reassured her that it was just fine and what she was making her borrow wasn't too much skin in America. Anya kept protesting but in the end the girl had won and they both enjoyed their time hanging out together and getting to know one another as they shared their point of view on technology. Anya had made her first friend, who wasn't exactly American but she lived in America, so it didn't matter either way.

The girl's name had been Maggie.

Anya had considered on contacting Maggie and finding out if she would help her, but it had been almost two years since they actually spoke to one another. They had emailed one another once or twice but it seemed that Maggie just got so busy with work that she didn't have time to keep up with the 411 with Anya. So they drifted apart.

So Anya was on her own, at the airport, getting her ticket to fly out to the Americas. She was a nervous wreck, which was for certain. She kept glancing around as if expecting to see someone there she didn't' want to. But it really wasn't someone that she was worried about seeing. It was something. She knew very well that if the giant alien robots knew that she was trying to alert anyone about them, they might just try and stop her. She had to make sure that they didn't sneak up behind her and stick her or anything.

She wasn't the most beautiful girl, she knew that for sure. But she knew she was cute. She had dark blonde hair, which she took after her father and she had her mother's light hazel-brown eyes. She had a cherub like face with freckles all over her nose and she wore glasses now and then, though she really didn't need to. She just liked wearing them because they made her look smarter. At the airport, she was wearing long grey wool skirt and a light blue knitted sweater with the thick winter coat to hide from the cold.

"Now boarding. From Moscow, Russia to Anchorage, Alaska, United States. Now Boarding. From Moscow, Russia to Anchorage, Alaska." 

Anya's head came up sharply when she heard the announcement for her plane's departure before she made a beeline for the growing line at the terminal. She was really nervous about flying on a plane. She knew very well that there were a few flying alien robots from what she saw that happened in Mission City. She just hoped that they wouldn't come after her or know where to look for her. She could only hope though.

Practically shoving her plane ticket towards the ticket taker, she made her way towards the terminal to get on the plane. She was just happy that she wasn't having any problems just yet.

"Miss Anastasia Karpos."

Freezing in her footsteps, she turned around to see who was speaking to her and was surprised to find that there were a few men were approaching her. They were obviously with the Government because they were wearing fine black suits, plus there was one man who was holding up a badge. That man was who held her attention. He was a handsome fellow with dark hair and a narrow face. He was young; there was no doubt about that. He could have passed for 24 or 25 years old. He was definitely a lot taller than her; perhaps 5'12" while she was 5'3". The other men, however, were somewhat different from her. She recognized a few being Russian but there were at least two different men with their group. They were American. Feeling uneasy, Anya looked at all of the men but nodded meekly at them as she clutched onto her bag tightly.

The man moved slightly forward, looking directly into her eyes with his deep brown eyes, still holding up his badge for her to see. He was looking rather serious as he approached her, but he tried to offer her a smile when he saw how scared she looked. "Are you Anastasia Karpos, daughter of the Russian IT Officer, Vladimir Karpos who is on board the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon submarine?" He asked, his Russian accent very thick.

Anya looked at him uneasily but she nodded. "Ye-yes. Who are you? What do you want?" She asked, nervously.

The man just bobbed his badge up and down to get her to look at it but then flipped it closed and put it away, then offered his hand towards her. "I am Russian Special Agent, Domovoi Korbács. I'm with the Russian Government, in a branch that we will not be discussing with you." He informed her before motioning to his companions. "These are some of my colleagues, which as you can see, two are Americans. We heard about the report you tried to file with the Saratov Police and became very intrigued with what you had to say." He lift his head higher as he looked right into her eyes. "We would like for you to come with us so we can discuss the matter."

Truth be told, a red light was flashing within Anya's mind. She had to be honest with herself to say that Agent Domovoi was quite attractive. He looked more like an actor than a Government agent. And being a guy crazy sort of girl, she should have been staring at him in a dreamy way. But it was his dark eyes that had her feeling uneasy. There was something about them that she didn't trust. Maybe it was the red glow in them or something. "Oh, that." She breathed uneasily before forcing a laugh. "That, that was just a test to see if the Government actually believed in that ridiculous rumor that the Americans..."

However, Agent Domovoi wasn't laughing. And neither was his comrades. They all were just staring blankly at her as if they didn't know what a joke was. "Miss Karpos, I'm not testing you. And you will be coming with us willingly, or unwillingly. Take your pick. If you try to fight us, the situation you are already in will only get worst." He said very dryly.

Anya shivered at his words, not being able to help it. She knew that he was being serious. Government guys hardly ever joked around as it was. So she knew without a doubt that he was telling the truth. She did not have a choice in the matter but to go with this guy and his fellow Government agents. So with a sigh, she merely glanced over her shoulder at the terminal before looking at him and nodding as she took a step towards him. She figured that this was a way of getting what she needed to done anyway. After all, they were just Government agents, right? And this was who she was trying to talk to as it was. Perhaps her opportunity to save her father came faster than she thought.

"Follow us. We'll take you to the jet." Agent Domovoi stated before turning and walking off. The other men just waited till Anya was in the middle of them before escorting her right after the , Anya couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole ordeal. Maybe it was the way Agent Domovoi had spoken to her. But she would just have to play it by ear and find out what these men wanted from her.

 

SLAM!

The sound of a door slamming jolted Hot Rod right out of recharge and sending him on high alert and ready to transform if he saw anything that looked like a fragging Decepticon. His hidden optics behind the Porsche's headlights moved quickly back and forth before falling onto the large house sitting in front of him, which was where shouting was now coming from now.

So once again, Hot Rod realized with a roll of his optics, the humans of the DeMarco Residence was once again having another argument.

Ever since the Autobot had even became the Porsche GT9 and was bought by Trent DeMarco, he learned very quickly that the human boy and his maker didn't get along very well. Every other night, he could hear the two going at it in a very heated discussion about some of the most pointless things that the Autobot had even heard of. He couldn't believe some of the dumb things that humans fought about. He remembered the first night he even heard them start fighting. It had made him pretty uneasy to be listening to it but it also made him wonder exactly why the father and son didn't get along. He had sensed a lot of tension between the two whenever it came to the courses of a career for Trent and that was mostly what they argued about. But there were those times Hot Rod thought they just argued because it was the only time they actually talked to one another.

From the first night of staying at the DeMarco's house, the Autobot had learned that Roger DeMarco was a very hard man and very stubborn. He surely had the whole male dominance thing overboard, Hot Rod figured. He sure liked to boss Trent around, always telling him what to do and sometimes Hot Rod felt pity for the human boy. Roger DeMarco kind of reminded Hot Rod of an old ally named Mirage. He remembered how strict that mech had been and he had a problem with bossing other mechs around a lot.

As for the female of the DeMarco, Shirley DeMarco, Hot Rod liked her at a certain point. She did have some point of kindness in her towards her son but the thing that the mech didn't like about her was the fact that she didn't seem to have much of a spine within her body. Whenever Roger started yelling at Trent and bossing him around, and Trent would ask her to please help him out tell his father off, she always cringed away and would leave the room to let her offspring and mate duke it out. Hot Rod wondered many times before if she was actually afraid of her mate. He had looked up this type of thing on the World Wide Web and it made him frown seriously to think that perhaps Roger DeMarco might be abusing his family.

But...the thing that shoved that thought out of Hot Rod's mind was that Roger mostly did a lot of yelling. He really never laid a hand on any one of his mate and sparkling. He hardly ever got physical with any of them. Keyword; hardly. But still, Hot Rod did find him a little worried about the boy, Trent.

There was another slam of a door within the house, drawing Hot Rod's attention towards the large house before came the shouting. From what he could through his senses, Roger DeMarco was extremely angry about something. He had marched right upstairs to Trent's room and slammed the door open and began his yelling. He could feel a little fear from Shirley as she followed him this time to stop the fight. So it was clear that she knew what this was about. That made Hot Rod frown to himself. She never involved herself with the matters of her mate and sparkling, so why now?

"Trent! I just got off the phone with Coach Marks and guess what he just said?! You didn't sign up for the Football Camp!" Roger began yelling. "I thought you were going to sign up for the camp!"

Inside the house, where Trent had been sitting on his computer doing some online studies of Vet schools, which he immediately traded for a computer game of football before his father came in, he just rolled his eyes as he looked up at his father, pausing the game. "So I forgot. So what?" He asked, dryly.

"So what?! So what?! You just had to fumble the ball, didn't you, Trent?! What are you, some kind of idiot?! Now you're going on a losing streak! Is that what you want to be?! A loser?! Football Players are winners! If you are going to be a Professional Football Player and play for one of the biggest teams in the US...!" Roger yelled, his fists on his waist.

Frustrated, Trent stood up abruptly and faced his father, shaking his head. He had had enough of playing these games with him. It was time to be honest with him. "NO! Dad, enough! I've had it! Enough with the stupid football talk! I've had it with football! That's all we ever talk about! At reunions, at parties! At the freaking dinner table! It's like a bad song stuck in my head now because of you!" Trent yelled right back at his father, whose face was twisted in rage and alarm. "I have every rule and every play stuck in my head! I'm pretty sure I play football in my dreams! I'm getting so sick of it! I am NOT playing anymore! It is such a stupid game where people bash their heads...!"

It seemed that calling football a stupid game was an insult to Roger and he couldn't take insults very well. For he launched forward with a fist and struck the young jock hard across the face, sending him flying back across his best.

"ROGER!" Shirley yelled as she hurried into the room, moving straight for Trent, who brought up a hand to his now bleeding lip where his father hit him. She didn't make it because Roger grabbed her arm and yanked her back, giving her a serious look. "Roger! Why did you hit him?! What is wrong with you?!"

Roger shoved her away, moving between her and Trent, glaring down at his son and shaking his head. "Shut up, Shirley! This is between me and Trent! He has had worst hits than the one I just gave him!" He then jabbed a finger in Trent's direction, who glared up at him from where he laid. "Trent, you better watch your mouth the next time you open it! It is time to get your damn head in the game! Now I have spoken to the Coach and made arrangements for you to sign up for tomorrow. You will call him tomorrow and apologize for missing the sign ups and you will go to Football camp this summer! If you don't, so help me, I will give you more than just a tap on the jaw!" he yelled at his son.

Trent shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet and glared at Roger, not looking afraid as one might. "Forget it! I told you! I am done playing!" He snapped before he stepped back when Roger stepped forward looking rather threatening, but he shook his head again.

"Roger!" Shirley snapped now grabbing his arm with a very terrified but angry look on her face as she pulled him back. "Enough! You need to calm yourself down before you give yourself a heart attack!" She then looked at Trent. "Trent, go on outside while I talk with your father." She told him.

Trent did not disobey.

Slamming the back door open, Trent stepped out into the cool night, his hand still pressed against his bleeding lip. He was so furious. He couldn't believe that his father had actually hit him! And for what?! Just because he wanted to quit football! And because he had called football stupid! It just pissed Trent off to think that his father was that single minded. He knew very well that he couldn't play football forever! Why couldn't his father see that?!

Angrily, he went straight for his Porsche, yanking out his keys from his pocket. He needed to get out of there for a while, just blow some steam off. And he couldn't do that while at home. Climbing into his car, he quickly started it up and soon speeding out of the driveway and down the road.

Hot Rod knew that if he continued to let Trent be in control, his blinding rage would get them both in an accident, so he took over partially and made sure he stayed in a single line while Trent just slammed down on the gas pedal to make the car go faster. But Hot Rod refused to do over 50 on a public road and that wasn't what his human passenger wanted. He could hear Trent start up a string of the nastiest swear words he could even look up on the Web. Rolling his optics, the Autobot forced himself to pull up a road which lead right up to the lake near Tranquility. He knew very well that was not where Trent wanted to go but the kid really needed some peace and quiet. His senses told him that there really wasn't anyone up there. So it would give Trent some time to calm down.

Once the car stopped, Trent went onto punching the steering wheel with a fist, swearing in rage before he swung the door open and went over to a tree, swinging his fists.

If he had been in his robot form, Hot Rod would have winced as he watched the boy punch the tree several times, not seeming to feel the pain. It had taken a moment for the young Autobot to figure out why he wasn't feeling the pain. But then he scanned Trent's adrenaline level and saw that it was pretty high. So all he could do was watch with some pity for the human.

"DAMN IT!" Trent yelled at the top of his lungs before he swirled around and slammed his back against the tree, sliding down to the ground. He buried his face into his hands and propped his elbows against his knees, just sitting there. He was pretty very rapidly and swearing. But after a few minutes of deep breathing and listening to nothing but silence, other than crickets and his car's engine, he began to calm down. "God..." He murmured, closing his eyes tightly. "Can I ever do anything right?"

Hot Rod let out a low rumbling sigh from his engine and almost decided to speak out to Trent, hoping that the human wouldn't freak out when he did talk to him. But he immediately stopped when Trent's phone began to ring out Simple Plan's "Perfect."

Groaning, Trent lift his head before digging into his baggy shorts' pocket and pulled out his cell. He didn't even have to look at the ID to know who it was. That was the ring tone he had chosen out for his father. So he just answered it and leaned his head back against the tree. "Yeah?" He asked, wearily.

"Trent! What the hell do you think you're doing?! I didn't say you can leave the house! I'm not done talking to you!" Roger DeMarco started yelling.

Trent just heavily sighed as he opened his eyes and looked up into the star lit sky. He didn't know what he could say to his old man without blowing up again. And now that he was starting to calm down, he began to feel the sting in his hand, making him look at it. He winced to see torn skin and that it was now bleeding pretty badly. So it really hadn't been a smart idea to punching the tree. But he had needed to take his rage off on something. "Dad, I just needed to get away, all right? Or do I need your permission for that?!"

"Don't you talk to me like that, young man! When you get back home, you will hand over those damn keys to the Porsche! You are done driving that thing!" 

"What?!" Trent asked, angrily, his rage returning. He even started glaring forward, towards the Porsche but it wasn't the car he felt rage for. "The Porsche is mine, dad! You can't just take it from me!"

"I bought it for you, Trent! I can take it away if I want!" 

"It's signed to me though! You signed it over to me! You can't take it away from me! I'm paying the insurance too! So it belongs to me!" Trent yelled right back, now pushing himself to his feet.

It didn't seem that Roger DeMarco cared though. "I don't care if you're paying the insurance or not! You will bring that piece of shit back to the house and you will hand over those keys! If you don't, I will call the police and make sure they bring it back! And you will do as I told you and go to Football camp this summer! I swear to God that if you ruin this chance for both of us, I will make you regret it!" He threatened.

Angry again, Trent shook his head as he glared off into the darkness. He felt the pressure of rage within once again. "I am not playing football anymore! I am going to Vet School! I'm not playing anymore! Got that?! And I'm not coming back tonight! You can count on that! If you need me, I'm going over to Uncle Tim and Aunt Deanna's! At least someone there understands me, even if she's a spoiled brat!" He snapped before hanging up the phone.

Then it went very quiet.

It was too quiet that it even made Hot Rod uneasy as he watched Trent just glare off into the darkness with his cell phone pressed against his mouth. It looked like he was considering on eating the piece of machine to control his unbearable anger. And Hot Rod knew that the human was starting to become a little unstable with his emotions. He could sense that the young human was fighting very hard to keep himself from just breaking down. 'He probably thinks it'll make him weak if he does.' The Autobot thought to himself before sighing again and taking a quick at the World Wide Web for what might help. As far as he could see, the boy needed to talk to someone about his feelings.

Revving his engine a little, Hot Rod caught Trent's attention. He knew what he could do. He watched the human carefully as he stared at his car before letting out a sigh and moving over to the Porsche. He caught sight of the self inflicted wounds and grimaced within. He just opened that the wound would bleed too much and get onto his interior.

Trent started driving back up the road towards the main road. He knew he couldn't go home just yet, knowing that his angry father was there to pounce on him when he got the chance. So he figured he'd try and drive it off for a while. There was no way he was going to go over to his aunt and uncle's place. He didn't want to deal with Elena right now. He was pretty sure that she was still annoyed with him after what happened at the car rally. He was annoyed, himself. It made him curse that Witwicky kid for even existing. If he didn't exist, then he would still have Mikaela and everything would be all right. But no. The little dork existed and he somehow stole a really hot girl from him. He still couldn't figure out what she saw in Sam Witwicky. What did the loser have that he, the Star Football Player of Tranquility High didn't have?

'A very nice ass car, that's for certain.' Trent thought bitterly, though he knew that his car was nicer than the Camaro. Still, it didn't make any sense to him.

It was only then Trent realized that he had been thinking too hard that he didn't even have a clue where he was now. He blinked out of his thoughts and looked around with a frown. He was in a new neighborhood of Tranquility that he didn't really recognize. It was in the suburbs, as far as he could tell. The houses were pretty nice, he thought to himself. He drove on, looking around until his car sputtered.

"What?!" He exclaimed before the car pulled up right in front of a house. The car then seemed to die on him. Swearing, Trent tried to turn it back on but it wouldn't start. He tried again and again but nothing seemed to work. Groaning, he leaned his forehead against the steering wheel. "Can my day get any worst?" He grumbled.

Tap, tap!

Jumping at someone knocking on his window, Trent looked out and found a short pudgy man looking in at him, frowning with some concern. He was a very strange fellow, balding at least a little with dark brown eyes. He was wearing shorts and a dirt covered shirt with some gardening gloves on his hands. So obviously, he had been doing some night gardening. He was middle aged, perhaps the same age as his own father. But unlike his dad, he was a little big around the middle. But just a little.

Blinking for a second, Trent then rolled down the window and nodded to the man. "Hey. Can I help you?" He asked.

"That's what I want to ask you. Having car troubles?" The man asked.

Sighing, Trent looked at his dashboard and nodded. "Guess I am. My car just won't start. I really don't understand why. It just had a tune up not too long ago." He told the man.

'Yeah. And Jose put gross oil in my engine, which I spit back out at him.' Hot Rod thought to himself, almost grinning to himself in his alternative form.

The man just nodded to Trent as he looked the Porsche over before motioning to the hood. He was already moving to the front, as if he was going to check the engine. "Pop the hood. Let's see what the problem is." He told Trent.

Of course, Trent hesitated. He didn't have a clue who this man was so he wasn't sure if he should trust him or not. But sighing to himself, he knew that if he didn't, he'd be stuck. Reno Banes really had been right at the rally. He didn't know jack about cars so he couldn't get himself out of this mess. So he needed help. So he pulled the hatch and opened up the hood for the man. Then he climbed out and joined him to looking at the engine within. "Sorry for bothering you, sir. I've been having a really bad day and this really doesn't help." He said motioning to the Porsche.

The man just smiled at him and shook his head as he began poking around in the engine and looking at whatever was in it. He even pulled out the oil stick to check the oil before putting it back in. He even looked at the engine itself. "Nah. Don't worry about it." he then looked at Trent, offering a hand to him. "The name's Ron, by the way." he told him.

"Trent." Trent said smiling taking the man's hand before wincing when he felt the pressure against his hand.

The man, Ron had also noticed his reaction and even felt the cuts on his hand so he looked down at it. It had been Trent's hurt hand he shook. Pulling back a little, he grimaced. "Geez, what did you do to your hand?"

Trent grimaced himself before covering his slightly bleeding hand with his other one, trying to hide it from Ron. He didn't really want to tell him that he had been stupid enough to punch a stupid tree. But he couldn't lie. "Like I said. It's been a rough day." He paused when he saw Ron raise an eyebrow at him. Sighing, he shook his head and looked away. "I was stressed out and I took it out on a tree." He told him wearily.

Slowly nodding and biting the inside of his mouth, Ron glanced back down at the engine. He stared at it for a minute before shaking his head. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with your car. Maybe you should try it again." He told him. He watched Trent nod as he climbed back into the car and tried to restart it. The car, itself, seemed to hesitate before it refused to restart. Ron only frowned as he stared at the car before noticing a strange robot faced emblem on the hood. His eyes lit up seeing it before looking back within the hood. "Huh..." He said thoughtfully before looking at a cursing Trent. "Looks like your car is just being stubborn." He stated. The car rumbled a little, which sounded more like a quiet laugh.

"You have no idea." Trent growled as he leaned his head back against the head seat.

Ron lowered the hood and gently closed it before looking at Trent. He studied the teen for a second, then shrugged. "Why don't you just give a rest for a bit? Come inside and get that hand cleaned up with soap and hot water." he suggested.

Trent looked at him, almost uneasily. He knew that was probably a bad idea. He didn't have a clue who this guy was and in truth, he knew it was stupid talking to complete strangers anyway. "Ah...I don't think that's a good...um..." He stammered.

Understanding, Ron just shook his head as he motioned to the house that the car had 'broken' down in front of, to where they could see his wife through the window. She was in the kitchen, baking and attempting to sing. "Don't worry, kid. I'm not some psycho as you might think. I'm just a boring every day guy who has a strange wife." He shrugged. "And if Judy knew that there was a kid out here with an injured hand and I didn't do anything to help him, I'd find myself on the couch for a week. And I happen to like my bed, thank you very much." He told him smiling tightly.

Trent couldn't help but smile as he listened to the hand before nodding as he climbed out of the car and closed it. He activated the locks before shrugging. "Okay. Okay. I don't want to be responsible for some guy having to sleep on the couch." He told him in a joking way, earning a chuckle and a nudge from the one he was joking about.

Nodding, Ron lead Trent across the front yard to the door and inside. They were soon greeted by a small yapping Chihuahua, who began jumping up and down around Trent's ankles and wagging his tail. Smiling, the teen bent down and began petting him and letting him lick his hand. He just grinned and shook his head as he glanced up at a smiling Ron. "You like dogs, huh?" The man of the house asked and received a nod as an answer. "That's Mojo. He's a little jackass and he thinks he's in charge around here but he's my son's. So I can't really say anything about it." he shrugged as he turned to look at his wife who just entered the room. She was a cute lady, even Trent had to admit that. She had strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes, which sparkled with certain innocence. And unlike her husband, she was thin and a little fragile looking but there was something very strong about the way she walked. For some reason, Trent already knew that if anyone meant to break into this house or anything, they would have a helluva time defeating this woman's nerves. "Hey, Judy. This is Trent. His car's being stubborn out front." Ron continued.

Judy just smiled a very cheerful smile at the teen as he stood up and nodded to her. "Oh! Hello, Trent! I see Mojo's taking a liking to you! You must have dogs too!" She said brightly.

"No. Not really. I want to have one but my dad..." Trent hesitated. "Well, he hates them. He hates any animals."

Both Ron and Judy sighed, shaking their heads but keeping smiles on their faces as they gave him a sympathetic look. "I can't see why anyone would hate animals. They are one of nature's beauties and they were here first before we, humans." Ron remarked before motioning to Trent's hand. "Judy, get the first aid kit out."

Judy frowned at him with confusion before she looked Trent over and then noticed his hand. She gave a sharp gasp as she hurried forward and gently took his hand, which only made him blush. She looked at it carefully before pulling him over to the sink and running luke warm water. She glanced sympathetically at him when he hissed slightly in pain. "Oh, you poor, poor thing." She cooed at him before squirting some antibacterial soap into his palm. "Just rub the soap in for twenty seconds then rinse it good. I'll be right back." She told him before hurrying away.

Trent did as he was told but glanced over at Ron, who was looking out the window at the Porsche sitting outside the house. "Thanks for the help, sir. I really do appreciated it." He told him.

"Ah, just call me Ron." The man told him before nodding to the Porsche outside. "Your car, it's pretty interesting. Especially with that insignia on the hood." He turned and looked at Trent, watching him carefully. "I've never seen anything like it before. You know what it means?" He asked, cautiously.

The young teen frowned as he glanced out the window before shaking his head. "No. When my dad bought it for me, I asked the guy who sold it to us about it but he said it was probably custom made. He had no idea where it came from either. I tried to look it up a couple of times but didn't find anything. I guess who ever made the Porsche just had a weird sense of humor or something. I think it's kind of cool." He said with a shrug.

Ron chuckled very quietly before shaking his head. "You have no idea, do you?" he then reached up and grabbed a flash light off of the fridge. "Hey, I'm going to check out your car again. Just in case I might have missed something. Judy! Will you hurry it up already?" He called.

"Oh, shut up, Ron!" Judy snapped as she returned with the first aid kit before smiling at Trent, who was looking a little uneasy. "Oh, don't mind us, Trent. Ron is just concerned about your hand, that's all." She then motioned for him to sit down, which he hesitated in doing while drying his hand with a paper towel. Judy then opened the first aid kit and started taking out Neosporin and began rubbing it onto his wounded hand. "So, how did your hurt your hand?" She asked, gently.

"You'd probably scold me if I told you." Trent said grinning, already being able to tell to that Judy was that kind of woman.

Judy gave him a blank stare for a moment before shaking her head as she went back to working on his hand. "You teen boys and always getting your selves hurt. I swear, that's all my son ever did when he was just a child. He's only gotten worst as he's getting older." She shook her head again, her eyes growing wide for a second before she let out a sigh. "I swear, I'm just waiting for him to roll up the pathway in a wheel chair any day now."

Trent just grinned at her as he watched her hands work on the torn skin of his knuckles. He had to admit it but she was amusing. It made him really wish that his mother was more like her instead of being a little frightened of his own father and taking charge when she needed to. Heaven knew that his mother could learn a lot from Judy. He would have to try and introduce them sometime. He felt like he wanted to meet her son, wondering what he was like. Of course, if he was always getting himself hurt at being clumsy or doing dumb stuff, the jock laughed to himself, he looked forward to meeting him. He glanced out the window to see how Ron was doing and stopped for a second.

From the window, he could see Ron bent over the Porsche's engine but he actually seemed to be talking to someone. He was talking to no one in particular but there was no one there. Someone had to be though. Because Ron actually stepped back, looking as if something just surprised him.

"Weird." Trent murmured.

"What's that?" Judy asked, thoughtfully.

Trent just shook his head as he looked away from the window at her, forcing a smile. "Uh, nothing. I just want to thank you for all of the kindness you're showing me. I don't get it a lot." he told her.

Judy just smiled at him before finishing up with his hand. It hadn't taken too long to do. So while they were waiting for Ron to come back inside, she offered Trent some fresh baked cookies, which the young teen took with a thankful smile. Then she proceeded to telling him about how she and Ron met, but never actually telling him her son's name. He didn't pay too much attention to it as it was but just thought about what he saw outside. His eyes eventually looked up at Ron when he came back inside, looking somewhat grim. But the man smiled in a very friendly way when he noticed him looking.

"Well, your car's just fine, Trent. I think it'll work for you now."

Trent nodded as he stood up and gave both Ron and Judy a very thankful smile. "Thanks again for helping me. I really appreciate it." He told them both.

Both Ron and Judy just smiled as they wrapped their arms around each other and stood walked Trent towards the door. There was a minor pause before the pudgy man just held up a hand. "Trent, whatever you've been under a lot of stress about, don't let it get to you. If anyone's been bossing you around and trying to tell you what to do and not to do, don't let them push you around. You just do what you want to do, all right?" he said, making it sound more like a hint of a question.

Slowly, Trent nodded as he stared at Ron, almost confused. He couldn't help but think that his gentleman might know exactly what his problem was and what might have happened between him and his father. But that was impossible, he thought. How could even know anything? But with a shrug, Trent just smiled and nodded. "Uh...okay."

"One more thing." Ron said as he and Judy walked outside with Trent towards the Porsche. "This coming weekend, we're having a Barbeque with some friends of son's. Why don't you come as my and Judy's guest and you can meet them, make some new friends. Maybe you'll even get along with our son."

"Uh..." Trent said somewhat unsure if that was a good idea. But letting out a light breath, he smiled and nodded. "Okay. That sounds really cool. Thanks." He told them, which brought big smiles on their faces. Then he proceeded on climbing into his car. "Thanks again. And it was really nice meeting you."

Both Ron and Judy nodded with smiles on their faces as they watched him start up his car without any problems. They waved at him as he began to drive off down the street. Then Ron's smile was gone, replaced with a very dry one, which surprised Judy. But he didn't say anything as he turned and headed straight back to the house with her in tow. "Ron? Ron, honey, what is it?" She asked, in confusion.

Ron just shook his head as he went straight to the phone and grabbed it, now punching in a number. "There's someone I have to yell at, Judy. Just a minute." He told her, holding up a finger when she attempted to question him. But after a moment of listening to the ring through the phone, someone finally picked up. "Roger DeMarco? I don't know if you remember me but we used to go to high school together. It's Ronald Witwicky. Remember me?" He nodded in only a little satisfaction at the other's answer before his face fell. "Yeah. The guy with the weird last name. Good to see that you remember. Look, Roger. I'm just going to get to the point of why I called you. I heard something serious happened at your house due to one of your neighbors saying so. And I just want to say, if you ever hit your son again, I will call the police. Yes, that is a threat. And I swear to God, I will follow through. Yes, I know it's none of my god damned business, but I mean it, DeMarco! You ever hit your son again, I won't hesitate to calling the cops. That is if your son's car doesn't blast you to a million pieces first, himself!" He then slammed the receiver down before smiling at Judy and taking a deep breath. "Boy, do I feel better."

Judy just stared at him bewildered.

Not more than a few moments later, they both heard a roaring engine pull up into the drive way and a few seconds later, Sam Witwicky came in, looking very annoyed. Ron almost opened his mouth to reprimand him for being late. "Yes, yes, Dad! I know! I'm late for the curfew but don't blame me! Blame Ironhide! He was trying to kill the twins because they pissed him off and Bumblebee had to help pry them apart!" He rolled his eyes. "I swear to God, I heard that they were bad but I didn't know Ratchet was actually being serious! Sideswipe and Sunstreaker just loves pissing off the two most serious Autobots that have no sense of humor when it comes to putting a "Kick my Aft" sign on their backs!"

Ron and Judy just smiled as they glanced at one another and shrugged. It was pretty interesting with what excuses that Sam came home with and it was almost worth it just letting him come home after curfew.


	7. Crashing A Party, literately

Decepticon Designation: Shockwave reporting. 

Location: Tranquility, Nevada. 

Reporting signs of possible Autobot ally. Human scum sighted leaving Autobots' human pet's residence. Possible contact to Decepticon traitor. Permission to pursue and Capture..." 

...

...

...

Decepticon Designation: Starscream, Decepticon Leader, responding. 

Permission granted. Within 74 hours, survey fleshling and then capture for interrogation. If target is being guarded by Autobot scums, you know what to do. Starscream out.

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

It had been a few days since the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had arrived, and things were certainly very amusing around the secret Autobot base, which happened to be the Hoover Dam. Sam and Mikaela went to the base almost every other day to visit with the Autobots, asking them about Cybertron and getting to know the twins and Arcee. They didn't see Hot Rod as much because he was too preoccupied with keeping his secret from Trent and his family. But they did learn quite a bit about him from Ironhide, which mostly negative stuff. Apparently, he was a real hot head and always getting into some kind of trouble.

The two teens asked the Autobots a lot of questions about their world and their people. It wasn't every day they got to learn about alien worlds. Mikaela was even very interested in the Autobot Anatomy and was always asking Ratchet questions about them. Sam had his suspicions though to why she wanted to learn about them. He was sure that she wanted to learn about how to repairing an Autobot because she wanted to help the medicbot repair Jazz and maybe even revive him.

After all, Optimus had said that it may be possible that he could come back. They just had to keep their hopes up.

Hot Rod didn't cease to amuse the humans though. He tried again and again to win over Arcee but his actions were always shoved aside by the pretty female. He was trying too hard, everyone knew. Every time he tried to hit on her, Arcee would brush him off as if he was a fly on her shoulder and then start teasing Ironhide, much to the Spy Changer's distain. It was worth watching Ironhide get flustered though.

Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were hilarious though when they were together, which was most of the time. They really liked messing with Ratchet and Ironhide. They were always taunting and teasing the two and always getting into trouble with them. And it didn't matter to them when Ratchet started throwing his tools at the pair, which he had a pretty good arm. His tools would hit the two every time. Sam and Mikaela learned that Sunstreaker might have been the most unfriendly Autobot towards humans but he was also very vain of himself. They had caught him polishing his armor all the time, always fretting every time he got dirty. Mikaela thought it was funny while Sam made fun of him in silence.

Of course, Sunstreaker's point of view changed a little about Mikaela when she asked him if he would like her to wax his car form. He had glared at her for a moment as he looked up what she was talking about on the Web before his eyes brightened and he agreed to let her. Sam was not amused.

There was still no sign of Jetfire as the military and the Autobots searched for him. It was almost like he didn't want to be found and eventually Optimus must have thought that was so because he asked everyone to stop looking. "He will reveal himself when he wishes it to be."

"Heh. Jetfire has always been the cautious one." Ironhide remarked after that.

Eventually, Sam told everyone about a Barbeque that his family was throwing at his house and even asked the Autobots to join them. He even invited Lennox and Epps, stating that they could bring their families if they would like. "My parents won't mind if you guys go. They're actually looking forward to seeing you. They really want to meet the new guys," He then winced when he saw Arcee looking dryly at him. "And...um, and Arcee."

Optimus only chuckled as he glanced side wards at their Valkyrie before looking back at Sam, nodding. He agreed that all of them should go and enjoy their selves while they still could. They would never know if another terrible battle would come up. Every one of the Autobots, as well as their human allies knew very well that Starscream was still at large. Who knew when that guy was ever going to attack? Ratchet even pointed out to everyone that they could go in their molecular holographic forms since he managed to get them back online after working on everyone.

So Sam and Mikaela were pretty excited to hear that they could get to see human forms of the Autobots. Lennox and Epps were looking forward to seeing what the big guys and lady would look like as humans too.

So as the weekend approached, Sam did a lot of work in the backyard with Ron, clearing out any thing that would be in the way of the Autobots when they arrived. They wanted to avoid anything accidently getting destroyed, of course. It was only a huge relief that the Government paid for all of the damages and even restored the Witwicky family's backyard due to it being accidently destroyed by the Autobots on their first visit to Sam's house. They even expanded it to being bigger for any future visits. So it was pretty big.

The Autobots arrived in the same fashion as always, almost at the same time and pulling into the large drive way connected to the back alley behind Sam's house. Ironhide had brought both of Lennox's and Epps' family, which Sam and Mikaela learned that Epps was married to a gorgeous knockout named Monique. She was also in the Army so she was fully aware of the situation with Earth's newest citizens. She was talking with Sarah and Judy, who was actually bouncing Annabelle cheerfully on her knee and enjoying being able to hold a nearly two year old baby.

As for the Autobots, all of them but Hot Rod had arrived and were now walking around in human forms.

When they had arrived at the Witwicky residence, the humans had been wondering exactly how they were going to show their holograms to them. Then a few men began to step out of the cars and a woman flickered into view riding on Arcee. It was the oddest thing that the humans had seen so far from the Autobots. While all of them were different shapes and sizes and even colors, each and every one of them had bright blue, glowing eyes.

Optimus Prime's human form was the tallest, of course. He stood to about 6'3" with jet back hair, cut short around his ears. He was wearing a deep red and blue flannel shirt with deep blue Wrangler jeans. In a way, he looked rather tall and mysterious in a way. He was very handsome as Mikaela pointed out with Judy, Sarah and Monique, all wearing a smile as they looked at the proud leader as he stepped down from his real body.

Ironhide's human form was strange enough. He had taken the form of a pretty big, tough looking man with a bald head, seeing that he didn't care for hair that much. He had big brawny arms at his sides and a large chest with no doubt tight abs under the black tee-shirt he wore. He was also wearing black pants that were loose enough for him. He was tall and lean but shorter than Optimus by a few inches; 5'10. He was still very intimidating to Sam just by the way he walked and talked in his human form.

Ratchet was the oldest looking one out of the bunch and he probably was. He still took on a handsome look, with somewhat graying dark brown hair. He was tall and a little lanky but there strength about him. He was wearing a nice blue shirt under a black jacket and blue jeans. He was a little taller than Ironhide by a fair few inches, yet a little shorter than Optimus; standing at 5'12".

Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were nearly identical, of course. They both were tall and had slender builds, yet they were both quite athletic. They were about as tall as Ironhide, although Sunstreaker was taller than Sides by an inch. And unlike his twin brother, Sunstreaker had golden blonde hair and a deeply rich tan while Sideswipe had dark brown hair and a slightly paler complexion. Sunny, as Sides kept calling his twin, was wearing a white cotton button up shirt and black jeans. Sideswipe was wearing black jeans and a tan t-shirt under a black jacket. Either way, they were very good looking had Mikaela gawking at them now and then.

Arcee was simply gorgeous in her human form, with long black hair with violet highlights in her hair. Her body form was more like an hour glass shape with long slender legs extend out from under the short black jean skirt that she wore while her curvy top form was covered by a deep violet halter top that tied behind her neck. The back was very long behind her, showing her creamy tanned skin. She wore calf high black leather boots. She definitely had a lot of the men staring at her, married or not.

As for Bumblebee, his human form was young, maybe the same age as Sam and Mikaela. He was a little taller than Sam though, standing at 5'10". He was very cute as Mikaela pointed out to him as he had walked over to them. He had a smooth, boyish face with black hair with yellow blonde tips on the ends. He was wearing a black and yellow muscle shirt, as well as black cargo pants. And unlike the others, he was playing mute.

"It's so great that you could come!" Judy Witwicky said brightly as she kept bouncing a laughing Annabelle on her knee.

Ron nodded in agreement as he was working the grill, which actually had Optimus and Ratchet's fascination. Ever since they had even arrived, the Autobots had wandered over to where he and the grill was, watching as he ignited it and started cooking the burgers and hot dogs. By ten minutes of watching him with the machine, the twins and Ironhide lost fascination and started talking to the others. Optimus and Ratchet, however, were asking questions about the grill, which Ron didn't seem to have a problem with answering. He was actually enjoying himself by talking to the alien robots and teaching them a little about their human world.

"Yes. We are only glad that you invited us to be apart of your family activity. It makes us feel like we are apart of it." Optimus admitted when he finally lost the fascination and went over to sit down next to Epps, who was listening to the twins talk about how they pulled some pranks on Ironhide and Ratchet on Cybertron. Of course, the Weapon Specialist and the Medicbot weren't amused and were already threatening the two.

"Optimus," Ron said smiling as he flipped a few burgers before looking up at the spoken person. "You have saved Sam in more ways than you guys realize." He glanced over at Sam who was talking to Mikaela, Bumblebee and Arcee and laughing about something that the female Autobot said. "If you guys hadn't come to Earth, he probably wouldn't be the kid I see now. I swear, he was a wimp before you showed up. He's changed a lot since we even bought that yellow Camaro." he told the Leader.

Optimus only smiled as he looked around at everyone in the backyard. "I am glad our worlds came together. We have learned a great deal because of Sam and Mikaela. Without them, we probably wouldn't be succeeding to bringing peace to this universe. In time, there will be no threat against your planet. All because of Sam." he said before looking at Ratchet when he approached.

"Optimus, Hot Rod is approaching. But it appears he's carrying a human passenger."

That caught everyone's attention, making all look up at the medical officer's human form. Some even looked a little confused as they glanced off into the direction they heard the approaching engine. Sam stood up, tilting his head to the side as if trying to see who was coming. "What? He's bringing...But I thought he couldn't come because of...of..." He was saying but stopped when the Porsche pulled into view and parked right beside Sideswipe. And his jaw fell when he saw an equally surprised Trent DeMarco get out. "Trent?!" He asked, bewildered.

"Witwicky?!" Trent asked, just as bewildered as he slowly walked towards them.

Both Ron and Judy looked up from where they were before they smiled when they saw the young man they had met only a few days before. Smiling, Ron waved a hand at him. "Oh! Hey, Trent! I'm glad you could make it!" He called over to the young.

"Hi, Trent, sweety!" Judy said sweetly.

Sam looked wide eyed over at his parents with a just as shocked Mikaela. They both were looking at the two grown ups as if they were wearing clown costumes. While on the other hand, the Autobots and the other humans just glanced from the new arrival to their hosts. Epps had actually grimaced as he looked between Sam and Trent. "Man, this just got bad." He remarked. Lennox nodded in agreement as he watched carefully. If either one of the young men started swinging at one another, he'd jump forward and stop them.

Trent still staring at Sam and Mikaela with surprise just rose a hand towards Ron and Judy before tearing his eyes away from his school rival and greeted them with a forced smile. "Ron, Judy."

"WHAT THE...!" Sam exclaimed before looking over at his parents. "Mom! Dad! You know Trent DeMarco?!"

Both of his parents gave him an impatient look but Judy nodded as she passed Annabelle back to her mother before standing up and making her way over to a very uncertain Trent. She grabbed his arm and linked it with her own as she began leading him into the back yard towards the table. "Yes, Sam. We met him the other night. His car broke down in front of our house and he had hurt his hand so your father and I were being nice to him. What is the big deal?" She asked impatiently.

Sam gave her a wide eyed look as if asking her if she lost her mind. "What...his car broke...?" His face fell and he turned a very dry look onto the Porsche, which for some reason looked a little smug. The Autobot even flashed his headlights at him while Trent's back was turned. Sam gritted his teeth and rose both hands, making a strangling gesture towards the Porsche before turning sharply back around and hurrying after his mother. "Mom! Okay, okay! I don't know how you met Trent, but..." He paused glancing at Trent, who was now giving him an equally annoyed look. "But he can not stay! He has got to go!"

"Samuel James Witwicky," Ron said warningly pointing the spatula in his direction. "Don't be rude. Your mother and I invited him just like you invited your friends. And yeah, I know who Trent is. I went to school with his dad, Roger."

"Whoa, whoa. You know my dad?" Trent asked, frowning before motioning to Sam. "And Ron and Judy are your parents?"

Dryly, Sam nodded before looking at his parents before motioning to the Autobots' human forms, who were watching in silence but not doing anything to interrupt. Optimus was actually looking towards Hot Rod, his eyes narrowed a little thought. "Yeah. They're my parents." Sam just said before looking at his mother and shaking his head. "Mom, look! I invited everyone so that we can talk about their home worl...so that they can enjoy their selves! But now they can't! They can't enjoy their selves because Trent DeMarco, Mikaela's Ex-boyfriend and the guy who spent most of his time in Elementary School beating me up is here!"

Laughing impatiently, Trent shook his head as he pulled his arm from Judy's and stepped backwards away from them. "You know what?" He shook his head again, holding up both hands as he looked at Ron and Judy. "Thanks for inviting me, Ron and Judy and for your help the other night. But this was not a good idea. Wit..." He paused glancing away before looking back at them. "Sam and I don't get along very well at school. So I think I should just leave." He said before turning to leave.

Only to stop when someone threw their arm around his neck and kept him in place.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's your rush, Speedy Gonzales? Since you're here now, why not hang around?" Said the newest arrival, a young man just a little older than the teens. He must have been at least 21 years old, and just a little bit shorter than Trent. He had dark blonde hair with bleached tipped bangs, which were gelled to stand up on the ends. His eyes were a startling deep shade of blue, deeper than any of the other Autobots' human forms. He wore a white tank top under a deep blue Hawaiian shirt and black surfing shorts. On top of his head, he wore silver and white sunglasses.

It was obviously Hot Rod's human form.

"Rod!" Sam hissed between his teeth, glaring at him. He was not amused with the Spy Changer at all for even playing the dead car routine with Trent and his parents.

Trent gave the new guy a weird look before pulling away from him, stepping back a few feet away. He did not like some weird guy he didn't even know touching him. And he would have continued to his car if Optimus had not stepped into the way, smiling at him. He got a weird look from the jock but he didn't pay any attention as he turned his deep blue eyes onto Sam. "Sam, why don't you put your feelings to the side and invite Trent to stay." He suggested.

"What?!" Both Sam and Trent asked bewildered.

Optimus just kept smiling as he slowly lowered his hand, his eyes, however, flickering back over to Trent. "Well, he is your parents' guest so it is only right that they should have the saying that he should leave or not. Besides," he glanced over at Hot Rod, who was grinning with his arms folded across his chest. "I'm curious about why Rod seems to have taken a liking to him. He may sometimes be reckless but he doesn't do anything out of protocol unless it calls for it." He told his young human friend. "Might as well as let him attend this event."

No one spoke for a moment, while Trent was just squinting his eyes with confusion as he glanced between Optimus at Sam. Sam, however, just stared at the Autobot leader. "Opt...I really don't think..." He cut himself off before saying Optimus' name. He knew Trent might remark to it. "

"Sam, I am aware of your dislike for him. And I do understand. Bee," Optimus said, glancing over at the youngest Autobot of the group. ", has informed me of your disagreements with Trent DeMarco. But maybe your dislike should be over looked."

"He's got a point, Sam." Sides remarked, resting an arm on his knee as he leaned against Sunstreaker's own back, who was looking bored of the entire situation. "You might not like it, but looks like your rival, there, might just as well join our little group."

"Group?" Trent asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sideswipe only grinned at him, tilting his head before motioning to all of the Autobots' car forms. "Dude, check out of the cars. You can call us some kind of Car Club, if you want. Hot cars only, eh, Sunny?" he asked lightly leaning back against his twin, who smirked as he turned his head around and looked back at his brother before looking lazily back at Trent, who looked rather surprised to see identical twins. "You've got a nice car there, dude. Like all of us. Join the club." Sides finished grinning.

Ironhide just rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Great. If those two blockheads are agreeing with Rod, then looks like we have no choice." he grumbled. Sides and Sunny glared at him.

Optimus just chuckled before looking back at Trent and nodding to him. "Trent, my name is Optimus. I've heard a little about you from Sam and Mikaela. And Rod." He motioned to Hot Rod, who just kept grinning at the jock. "Rod has told me he's seen you several times and has been watching you from time to time. He hasn't approached you because he was sure that you, as you teenagers would usually say, Freak out." He told him.

Trent gave a sharp laugh as he still gave him weird look but nodded. He was completely confused and weirded out by the whole lot of Sam Witwicky's pals. "Yeah. He's definitely got that right. I don't like people stalking me. And what kind of name is Optimus? Greek?" He asked, though he was just curious. He hadn't tried to be rude about it. He was merely asking.

At the question, a few of the Autobots gave the human teen a very dark look and even Epps was giving him a look of warning. If looks could kill, Trent would have died a very painful and slow death. Ironhide even stood up, giving him a dark look but Optimus held up a hand with a smile and shook his head. He didn't look offended at all. But instead of answering, he glanced over at where Arcee and Mikaela were sitting and met both of their eyes. With only a single glance, the girls seemed to know what he was asking of them. Though, Mikaela wasn't entirely thrilled about it, she just smiled coyly as she stood up with the female Autobot and moved over to stand in between Optimus.

"What kind of name is Trenton?" Arcee asked smiling when Trent looked at her and watched his eyes snap wide open. He was definitely taken by surprise by her human form. She just reached up and hooked her arm around Optimus' neck and resting her head innocently against his shoulder with a coy smile. "It doesn't matter what kind of name Optimus has. What does matter is that we have a good time, getting to know each other. My name is Regina Charles. Everyone calls me Arcee. It's nice to meet you, Trent." She then offered her hand towards him, which he mindlessly took. "Now, why don't you stick around and get to know the rest of us. You may learn something." She told him before closing her hand around his and leading him back to the table.

Of course, Trent followed, somewhat taken by surprised.

Mikaela just smiled before looking up at Optimus who was chuckling. "You know, Arcee is a minx. She can charm anyone, can't she?" She just shook her head when Optimus only glanced at her before looking at Sam, who still wanted to protest. She rolled her eyes before linking her arm with his. "Sam, just quit while you're ahead. I don't like it anymore than you do but Optimus has a point. Because Hot Rod is prancing around as Trent's car, he might as well have a nice big target sign on his chest for the Decepticons." She told him quietly.

Sam just shook his head before looking at Optimus. "Optimus, are you serious about letting him stick around? He's a jerk! He's like a Decepticon!" He protested low enough so that Trent couldn't hear.

Optimus only glanced at him before looking over at Hot Rod, who was pouting again because Arcee was flirting a little with Trent, even if it was just to keep him from running off. "Hot Rod," The proud leader said quietly, catching his attention. "Why don't you just tell Sam what you just told me a moment ago?"

Hot Rod nodded before looking over at Sam, who was giving him a dry look. "Look, Sam. I know Trent can be a Pit-spawn, all right? But the guy needs a little help. I just told Optimus through our link that the other night when I brought him over to your place, I was bringing him to talk to you. But you weren't home. Your parents were. He really needed to talk to someone that night, okay?" He received a not amused look from Sam. "He got into a fight with his dad and my sensors picked up emotional instability from him. That, and the fact that his dad physically damaged him. Not seriously but he was mouthing him off."

Mikaela's eyes lit up before she drew a sharp breath. "You're saying that Trent's dad hit him?" She received a nod and she rolled her eyes with a dark look before looking at Sam, who looked just as surprised. "I knew it. Sam."

"His dad hits him?" Sam asked, not hiding his surprise.

Hot Rod shrugged and nodded at the same time. "Only once or twice when they argue. That's why I brought him over to your place the other night. He really needed someone to talk to. And Bee's told me how you have a way with words and talking to people." He remarked.

Sam rose his eyebrows. "Huh? Me? With words? In what way? Being a babbler or always stumbling over my words?" He asked, still surprised.

Optimus just chuckled and shook his head as he held up a hand for everyone to lower their voices a little. The other Autobots were glancing over at them and then back over to Trent. But judging by the looks on their faces, they must have heard what he said. Ironhide's fists were actually clenched as he had his arms folded across his wide chest and his eyes had darkened a little as he looked over at Trent. "Bee is right, Sam. You do have a way of talking to people, even if you don't realize it yourself. You should give yourself more credit. I think Hot Rod is was just a little concerned for your fellow human. Like it or not, but Trent DeMarco may have become apart of this as much as you or Mikaela or even Captain Lennox and Sergeant Epps. He has been around an Autobot. The Decepticons may try and use him to draw us out. They do not like Hot Rod anymore than they do me." He told him.

Groaning, Sam ran his hands through his hair before giving Hot Rod a very dry stare. "God, Rod. Did you have to choose Trent? Of all the people in the world, you just had to choose to be the car for Trent DeMarco, didn't you?" He asked blankly.

Hot Rod just rolled his eyes before shrugging as he already started to walk over to the table where Trent was sitting beside Arcee and now smiling at Judy as she offered him cookies. "I'm not doing it to annoy you, Sam. The kid needs a real friend besides those jokes he usually hangs around with." He told him before grinning as he dropped down on the bench next to Arcee and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Of course, everyone started laughing when Arcee gave him a look for it before shoving him off the bench onto the grass.

Luckily, the day was going a lot smoother than Sam thought it would. There was only a little tension between him and Trent but no real incidents. He only thought that Trent was behaving because of Arcee and his parents. At least he was trying to be polite. Still, there had been a few times where the two would meet eyes and just glare at one another, until Mikaela slapped Sam's shoulder and gave Trent a very serious look. But it did lighten up a little when Sideswipe and Hot Rod decided to distract everyone by pouring soda all over Ironhide and Ratchet's hoods.

It took every effort the two serious Autobots had not to transform right then and there and beat the living Pit out of the mischievous pair. So they just settled with tackling them to the ground and beating their human forms.

"So, Ron," Trent said, looking over at who he was talking to. "You knew my father, right?"

Ron paused for a second before nodding, his eyes rolling a little. "Yeah. I did. We were in the same classes just like you and Sam are. But I gotta tell ya, he wasn't the nicest of people back in the days." He paused to look at Trent to see what his reaction and was satisfied to see him forcing a smile and nodding as if he agreed. So obviously, Trent knew that already. "He also played a lot of football until he got into an accident that killed his leg. He still loved football though. I wouldn't be surprised if you did. You play right?" He asked, smiling at the teen.

For a moment, it was almost tense as Sam and Mikaela glanced uneasily over Trent, who was staring at his hamburger but then the jock grinned and threw a fist into the air. "Oh, yeah! Football is my life! I've been playing since I was kid and I'll probably die playing." He said grinning.

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another. They knew better even if Trent was trying to hide the fact that he hated football. They knew he was probably just worried about his father finding out that he wanted to quit. They remembered what Elena had told them about Trent and it did make them hope that the subject would be dropped quickly. However, Ratchet's brow furrowed a little as he studied Trent. He had detected Trent's lie. "Curious."

Everyone glanced at him when they heard him say that. Trent just frowned as he lowered his arm and looked at him with a curious look. "What's curious?"

"Well," Ratchet said shaking his head, rubbing his chin with one hand. He looked very thoughtful about the whole thing but was still staring at him. "You hesitated before replying, which means you had to think about it for a moment if you did like Football or not. And then you glanced to your left and repeated blinking while saying that football is your life. As far as I know, that is usually done when one is lying."

Yep. A tense moment.

Trent's face fell a little and he looked at Ratchet with offense. He was definitely not happy that someone had caught him in his lie but he wasn't going to back down. "Are you calling me a liar?" He asked, dryly.

"Trent." Mikaela quickly spoke up before anyone else could. She was looking her Ex right in the eyes, not smiling nor frowning. She knew she had to be careful of what she said to him about Ratchet. "Dr. Ratchet," She glanced over at the medical officer quickly before looking back at Trent. "He's a doctor and has specialized in all kinds of medical fields. That also includes Psychology. So he knows how to tell a lie from the truth." She then let out a sigh when Trent and rolled her eyes. "Besides, we already know that you hate football. Sam and I already know that you plan on quitting and you're going to try and become a vet."

"Which is totally cool!" Sam jumped in when Trent gave them both a look of anger and annoyance, not to mention bewilderment. He was at least trying to be nice to his rival, anyway. "Being a vet is really cool. I think saving animals' lives are a lot better trying to give your self brain damage while playing a game."

Still, Trent gave them both a bewildered look. "How..." His face fell when Sam grimaced and he looked away impatiently. "Elena. She was the only one I ever told about being a vet. And she went and told you." He took a deep breath and looked dryly at Sam and Mikaela. "What else did she blab to you about?" He asked in annoyance.

Again, Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another while everyone else decided not to open their mouths. They knew that this was just getting tenser and tenser by the minute. It was even making Hot Rod shuffle in his seat as he watched his human driver carefully. Mikaela bit her lip while looking into Trent's eyes. "Well..." She sighed and linked her hand with Sam's. "She told us why you bought the Porsche. And why you totaled your old truck."

"And...and why you don't have a dog." Sam said, keeping his eyes adverted away from Trent.

His face very blank, Trent just stared at him but then shook his head, not looking happy. "I'm going to kill her." He growled.

The Autobots grew stiff when Trent said that, looking at him with almost alert expressions on their faces. Both Sam and Mikaela winced and held up their hands, knowing that they had better explain what their classmate really meant. "He's kidding." Sam quickly said before looking at Trent, who was eyeing all of the human forms of the Autobots with a frown. "Trent, you can't say stuff like that around these guys. They...they kind of take it literately." He told him.

Trent snorted as he rose an eyebrow at Sam before shaking his head. "Dude, Witwicky. You have some weird friends." he remarked, getting un-amused looks from Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Ironhide.

The others just decided to ignore his words. They were actually just looking off towards the sky, as if searching for something. Optimus even slowly stood up, staring up at the sky with a very concentrated look in his eyes. And that was what caught some of the others' attention. All of the humans frowned as they looked around at the human versions of the Autobots and Lennox even stood up as he and Epps looked up into the sky with them. "Optimus? What is it?" The Captain asked, carefully.

Optimus didn't answer as he just stared up at the sky, his eyes narrowing a little as if he was searching harder for something, or squinting in the sun. But after a minute, he turned his head and looked over at Ratchet, who was looking just as thoughtful and suspicious as he was. "Ratchet?"

"I don't know, Optimus. I'm picking up something but I'm not too sure." The medicbot replied.

"What?" Trent asked, frowning before looking in the sky. "What the heck are you talking about?"

Sam's face fell a little as he only glanced at Trent but he looked at Optimus and Ratchet, almost just as alert as they were. He really hoped that they weren't talking about what he was afraid they were. He even glanced at Mikaela, who looked very worried. "Optimus, please tell me you're not talking about what I think you are." he said, looking up at the clouds high above.

There was a long silence as everyone looked up at the sky but then Ratchet shook his head, smiling again. "It's nothing. We just thought we heard something." He informed a questioning Trent. And the other humans just let out relieving sighs while Trent just gave them all a weird look. He just looked a little freaked out. He was not used to people just going quiet and staring off in a very weird way before acting as if everything was normal.

"Okay. I'm going to repeat myself." Trent remarked, looking directly at Sam and pushing himself to his feet to stretch a little. He hated sitting in one spot as it was. "Witwicky, you have some weird fri..."

Right at that moment, the Autobots leapt to their feet and their heads came up sharply as if they had just been suddenly been zapped, or as if they just got a sudden transmission. Their eyes had definitely flashed brightly as they looked up into the sky, just as an F-22 jet dropped right out of a large cloud. "Captain Lennox! Sam! I think you better get your families out of here!" Optimus said as his human form flickered out of view, as did all of the others.

Sam, Mikaela and the rest of the humans jumped to their feet and looked up at the suddenly arrival of the jet high in the air before each and every one of them felt their hearts nearly stop. Trent looked extremely agitated and freaked out that the Autobots had just suddenly vanished but that changed immediately when each and every one of the cars in the driveway roared to life before there were several loud metallic clicks as they began to transform. Jaw falling wide, he stepped back, shocked by what was happening. "What...!" He exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Lennox exclaimed when he and the others saw the F-22 now diving towards the Earth, in their direction. He quickly went around the table and grabbed a napping Annabelle from her playpen they had set up earlier. But she immediately began to cry in protest when she had been picked up and her nap interrupted.

"Oh, man! What the hell are they doing here?!" Epps yelled as he grabbed Monique's arm and pulled her to her feet, who was just as alert as they were.

Sam and Mikaela both paled a little before looking sharply at the 28 foot Autobot leader as he stood up with the others. They didn't even glance at Trent, who scurrying back away from them with very wide eyes. "Optimus! Is that Starscream?! What is he doing here?! Why is he here?!" Sam yelled as he quickly moved over to his parents and grabbed their arms to start pulling them to safety. But none of the Autobots answered as they quickly activated their weapons and threw them up to start firing.

It didn't help at all when the F-22 moved very close and fired a missile towards them.

"NO!" Lennox exclaimed as he grabbed a frantic Sarah and started to drag her away from the Witwicky's backyard.

Epps, Sam and Mikaela were quickly pulling Ron, Judy and Monique away from the danger. It was only then did Sam realize that Trent was not with them. He whirled around to see that the jock was stock still in the middle of the backyard, staring in shock up at the Autobots. "Trent! Get over here!" He yelled at his rival and when the jock didn't move, he quickly left his parents' side, who both yelled for him. Mikaela even whirled around to look wide eyed after him before she looked up to see the missile screaming towards them and the Decepticon moving ever so closer to their general area.

Because of the sudden danger, the Autobots launched forward in between the humans and the incoming missile to protect them. Ironhide quickly placed himself over the humans with the twins standing right next to him to take the impact if they had to. He, and any of the others with blaster cannons or guns began to fire up at the missile, trying to destroy it before it got too close.

"Trent! You idiot! Don't just stand there!" Sam yelled as he ran over to the spoken person and grabbed his arm, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Come on!"

Trent, still shocked by the change of the situation, looked wildly at him before pointing at the Autobots. "What are those?! What are those things?!" he yelled before his head around when he heard the screaming missile.

Sam just shook his head as he yanked the jock to follow him and get back to where the others were being protected by Ironhide, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. He knew he did not have time to explain to Trent right now. Right now, he had to get back to his family and the others. "Not now, Trent! Just run!" He yelled.

And then the missile exploded when Ironhide and Bumblebee's blasts collided with it. It was still a little ways in the sky but close enough to blow everyone off their feet. Some of the Autobots went flying in many directions, as well as did some of the humans. Everyone hit the ground with startled screams, though Lennox was covering both his wife and daughter with his body, taking most of the damage. The only Autobots who hadn't been blown off their feet was Optimus, Ironhide and Sunstreaker. But they had ended up staggering back a little, stepping on a few fences and a shed. But otherwise, they managed to avoid landing on any houses.

Both Sam and Trent had definitely went flying across the yard until they crashed into some of the bushes in the Witwicky backyard, luckily having those to break their fall.

It took a minute for everything to settle down again but the biggest relieving sound that anyone, mostly Lennox and Sarah was to hear Annabelle screaming and crying. As soon as they could, the two were up on their knees, looking Annabelle over frantically with a just as frantic Ironhide looking quickly back and forth to them and back to the sky. So far, with great relief, they saw nothing wrong with the baby. Monique had not exactly been so lucky. Even with Epps shielding her from the explosion, she had hit her head pretty hard against the ground and a splinter of wood from a tree and struck her in the leg. She was taking it better than Epps though. He was seriously freaking out.

"Is everyone all right?!" Optimus called as he bent down to one knee but kept his optics on the sky for any sign of Starscream. They knew he was still around but with the dust and smoke, it was hard to see him.

"Sam!" Mikaela screamed for her boyfriend before she was running as fast as she could over to where he and Trent had landed. Both Ron and Judy were hurrying right after her, looking frantically at their son as he groaned and pushed himself up. "Sam! Sam, are you okay?!" Mikaela only cried.

Sam groaned again as he climbed to his feet, using the broken fence to prop himself up. His head hurt a little but so far he was all right. "Ow." He groaned before wincing when Mikaela threw herself at him and wrapped him into a tight hug. He lightly pulled away and began looking himself over but found nothing but scrapes and bruises. "I-I'm okay." He looked to see Trent painfully getting to his feet and rubbing his head. "Trent, you alive over there?"

The only answer he got was Trent groaning before looking up Optimus who was towering over them and looking up at the sky for the attacking Decepticon. His eyes growing wide, he staggered back against the fence and cowered. "What the hell?! What is that thing?!" he exclaimed terrified out of his wits again.

Sam and Mikaela only glanced up at Optimus as he turned his optics down onto them but they shook their heads as they made a quick glance over at Hot Rod as he quickly approached them to check on them and Trent. His approach only caused Trent to exclaim and stumble over a bush, crashing to the ground. It wasn't a reaction that the Autobots weren't use to, though. Sam shook his head as he hurried forward and grabbed Trent's arm, pulling him back to his feet. "Trent! Look, it's hard to explain...!"

"What the hell are those things?!" Trent exclaimed again looking up at the Autobots as they climbed to their feet and looked around in the sky for the Decepticon.

Her face hard, Mikalea moved forward and roughly grabbed Trent's arm, giving it a yank to make him look at her. She just gave him a very hard look as she shook her head. "Trent! Those things are our friends! And they just saved your life so stop calling them things!" She shook her head again as she was forced to release his arm as he quickly moved back away when Hot Rod tried to move closer. "Trent! He's not going to hurt you! His name is Hot Rod!"

Trent didn't exactly listen to her as he just moved further away from her, still looking wide eyed up at Hot Rod, who was looking right back at him with concern. He just shook his head as he reached up and ran a shaky hand through his blonde hair. He certainly thought he was losing his mind. "Oh, my god." He murmured, moving back and stopping near the house. "My car is an 18 foot robot."

CRASH!

It happened way too fast for anyone to register but something had came crashing right out of the house at a high speed and it only took a few seconds to see that it was a violent purple RX-8 before it began to click and transform into a Decepticon. The Autobots were already yanking their weapons over to fire at the attacking Cybertronian but they immediately stopped when the Decepticon lashed out and grabbed Trent around the waist.

"TRENT!" Both Sam and Mikaela yelled with alarm.

Hot Rod almost moved forward to free the jock but stopped immediately when the Decepticon quickly rose his cannon right next to Trent; whom was nearly having a panic attack as to having nearly been rocketed up 18 feet into the air. The Decepticon's cannon were already nearly glowing hot, ready to fire and destroy every inch of the human he was holding. "Halt, Autobot scum! Or I will crush the Pitspawn and then incinerate him! Move any closer, and I will destroy him!" The Decepticon ordered.

Optimus held up a hand to the other Autobots, but kept his own cannon trained on the offending Decepticon. "Autobots, hold your fire but stand your ground!" He ordered but gave the Decepticon a very deadly look. "Shockwave! Release the boy!"

The Decepticon snarled at him but did not answer as he moved back a few feet until his back was nearly against the house. He was obviously not going to listen to Optimus as he just kept a panicking Trent DeMarco. The boy was having a fit as he tried to pry himself loose and just yelling for help. "Silence!" Shockwave ordered the human, who flinched. He quickly turned his burning red optics back onto the Autobots, who were glaring at him. "Stand down, Prime! I have no intention on killing this human scum!"

"Heh!" Sideswipe laughed harshly as he lashed out both arms and let a pair of ten foot blades slide right out. "Yeah right, Decepti-scum!"

Shockwave shot him a vicious glare but turned his fiery optics back onto the terrified human he held in his hands. He knew very well that he didn't have time before Starscream made another round to distract the Autobots. "Fleshling! Where is she?!" He roared into Trent's face, surprising almost everyone. "Where is the Decepticon traitor?!"

Sam and Mikaela as well as all of the Autobots stared with alarm and surprise.

"Wh-What?!" Trent asked shakily as he continued to try and pull himself free.

"WHERE IS THE TRAITOR WHO HAS BETRAYED THE DECEPTICONS!" Shockwave nearly screamed at him. "WHERE IS THE TRAITOR, SPITFIRE?!"


	8. Spitfire

The Autobots froze.

Hearing that name only confused Sam, Mikaela and the two human soldiers. They had no clue who Spitfire was, though when they looked up at the Autobots to see if they knew who the Decepticon was talking about, they all froze when they saw the looks of pure shock on their metallic faces. Even on Optimus' face there was shock. And it was something that they didn't see often at all. But it was the look on Bumblebee's face that caught Sam's attention. The yellow and black mech looked just as shocked as his fellow Autobots. But there was also something else that Sam saw within his best friend's optics. Bumblebee's optics had flickered a little, and there was almost painful look on the mech's face.

"Bee?" Sam asked, bewildered and confused.

"Optimus? What is he talking about?" Mikaela asked looking up at the 28 foot alien leader.

Shockwave must have heard because his eyes flickered back over to them and he chuckled almost evilly. He was no doubt amused by the Autobots' shock and confusion. "Oh. That's right. The goody goody Autobots didn't know that their own betrayer was hiding on the very planet that they were on." He laughed harshly when he just got surprised looks from the humans. "And you didn't even tell your pets, did you, Prime? Yes. The Autobot betrayer, Spitfire is here. The murderer of many Autobots, and your precious mate, Optimus Prime is on pathetic excuse for a planet."

Hearing that made several jaws drop as Sam, Mikaela, Lennox and Epps looked sharply up at Optimus with surprise. "Mate?! Optimus, you had a mate?" Sam asked in surprise.

Optimus didn't even acknowledge him but stare directly at Shockwave, who was taken pleasure in the whole situation. There had been almost a flicker of pain that crossed his optics but he shook it off immediately as he grew serious again. He didn't really have time to explain what Shockwave was talking about to the humans. Right at the moment, there was a frantic young male human who had no clue what was going on and what they were in the dangerous possession of a Deception, who would have no problem with just tightening his grip on him and crushing his fragile body. "Shockwave, release the boy." He ordered.

"Not until I have the information that Starscream seeks, Prime! We've been searching for Spitfire for ages now! And we, the Decepticons, will not halt for even scum like you! Your only concern is what will happen to this Pitspawn if you interfere!" The Decepticon growled before jerking his eyes back to Trent, who flinched away from his harsh glare. "Where is Spitfire, human bug?! Where is the Lotus Elise S, licensed SPTFR, registered to your human relations, Elena Jasmin Lincoln?!"

Both Sam and Mikaela's jaw dropped. "Elena's car?!" She gasped covering her mouth.

Ironhide swore in Cybertronian. "Slag! I knew it! I knew there was something about that fragging car the moment I saw it! I should'a realized it was that backstabbing traitor!" He growled, but no one really paid him any attention.

However Trent only cried out in fear as he looked at the glowing weapon shoved almost in his face, watching as it was starting to heat up. He really did not know what was going on but he knew one thing was for certain. If he didn't say something, he was going to be dead. He tried to speak but the words just couldn't come out. He couldn't find his words. "I...I...!" He stammered.

"WHERE IS THE LOTUS THAT YOUR HUMAN RELATIONS OWNS! ANSWER OR I WILL INCINERATE YOU!" Shockwave roared at him.

Trent flinched and held up his hands as if to protect himself. He shook his head vigorously, looking at the giant evil robot with fear. "I don't know!" He cried out holding up his hands in his defense. "I don't know where the Lotus is! It's probably with my cousin at the Lake, maybe! I don't know! Just let me go, man!"

And let him go, Shockwave did.

As soon as he had at least given him a designation, Shockwave opened his hand and whirled around, quickly transforming into his car form and he was off. He was not going to dawdle and let the Autobots take a few crack shots at him. He, however, did stumble a little when Ironhide shot after him, hitting his car form from behind but he didn't stop to shoot back. He just sped off. Trent let out a startled yell as he fell towards the ground and if he really had hit the ground, he probably would have ended up with a pair of broken legs. Or maybe even worst. But to his luck, Hot Rod dove right over Sam and Mikaela and caught his human driver before he hit the ground.

"Shit!" Trent exclaimed as he began hyperventilating in Hot Rod's hand. He was in a panic as he was set down back onto the ground next to Sam and Mikaela, yet he collapsed to his knees, still repeating curses. "Oh, man!"

Sam and Mikaela quickly moved to his sides and bent down next to him, touching his shoulders and trying to calm him down. It wasn't working at all though. "Trent! It's okay! You're okay! Just take a deep breath and calm down!" Mikaela tried to tell him. She glanced up at Sam, who looked just as concerned.

"Trent, you're going to be just fine! So just calm down." Sam tried next. He knew very well how Trent was feeling. He remembered the very first time he had a Decepticon screaming into his own face. This was almost exactly like what happened a year ago when the Decepticon, Barricade had been looking for his grandfather's glasses, which held the location of the All Spark.

Something seemed to snap inside of Trent though as he jerked his head up and he lashed out, grabbing Sam by the front of the shirt. He just glared up at the slightly younger teen, shaking his head. "Are you kidding me, Witwicky?! Are you freaking kidding me?! I just got shot at with a missile, threatened by a giant robot and I just siced that thing on my cousin! Do NOT tell me to calm down! I have to go find her before that thing does! Before it kills her!" He yelled into Sam's face.

Sam stared at him for a few seconds in alarm before his own face grew serious and he grabbed Trent's wrist, forcing him to let go of his shirt. He turned sharply and looked up at Optimus, who had been in the middle of telling the other Autobots to prepare to roll out and chase Shockwave down. "Optimus!" He called, catching the Leader's attention. "We have to save Elena! Please! We have to get to her before Shockwave does!"

For a moment, Optimus didn't answer but stare down at him before he nodded and looked sharply over to the other Autobots. "Autobots! We must locate Elena Lincoln and Spitfire before Shockwave and Starscream! But to do that, we need to delay Shockwave! Arcee, Sunstreaker, and Ratchet! Chase him down and stall him! Ironhide, Hot Rod and Sideswipe, try and locate Starscream before he gets to the Tranquility Lake! Bumblebee and I..." He, however stopped when the young mech he just had been addressing was already moving. "Bumblebee!"

The yellow and black mech had turned sharply away from everyone and transformed into his car form. The yellow Camaro dropped heavily to the ground and peeled out, speeding away from the house.

"Slag!" Ironhide roared as he quickly deactivated his cannons and watched as the young mech sped down the road. "He's going after Spitfire himself!"

Swearing in Cybertronian, Optimus turned and looked at everyone. He should have seen that coming. He knew very well that Bumblebee was still beating himself up after what happened on Cybertron with Spitfire. It had taken years to get him over her betrayal but all of it had been for nothing now. And all it took was even mentioning her name before he broke down again. "Hot Rod, go after him! Catch him before he gets too far! Arcee! Sunstreaker! Stall Shockwave! Ironhide and Ratchet, try and locate Starscream and stall him. Sideswipe," He looked at the spoken Autobot. "You and I will go after Spitfire."

"Optimus Prime, sir. I would like permission to be the one..." Hot Rod was saying, his tone devoided of all usual cheerfulness. In fact, he looked rather deadly to even have learned about Spitfire being on Earth.

Optimus gave him a sharp look but shook his head. "No, Hot Rod. I need for you go after Bumblebee, right now. You are nearly as fast as him and I need you to catch him before he gets to the lake. I would rather confront Spitfire myself. Now go!" He ordered. Not looking happy at all, Hot Rod turned sharply and did exactly what Bumblebee had; transforming into the electric blue Porsche and peeled out after the Camaro. "Autobots! Roll out!" Optimus said as he too made his transformation. All of the other Autobots just nodded and followed in pursuit.

"Optimus, wait! What about Elena?! And who is Spit...?!" Sam was asking as he and Mikaela moved towards the large Peterbilt truck. They both had seen Lennox and Epps jump into Ironhide after leaving Sarah, Annabelle and Monique with Ron and Judy, asking them to watch over them.

However, he shut up real quick when Sideswipe revved his engine loudly and threw open his doors. "Get in!" He barked through his radio. "Hurry it up or we're leaving you!"

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another before they nodded and rushed over to the silver Autobot, jumping in. However, they had not been the only one. Trent had hesitated but then bolted right after them, moving to the passenger's. Both of his school mates looked at him in surprise but he shook his head. "Elena is my cousin! I don't know what these things are but you are going to tell me, Witwicky! Now move over and let me in!" He told Sam.

Only glancing at Mikaela, Sam nodded as he jumped over her into the driver's side while Mikaela jumped into the small back seat and let Trent slide in the passenger's. Of course, he had been pretty hesitant, looking around inside as if it was going to eat him. Both Sam and Mikaela rolled their eyes as they watched him slowly get in, until Sideswipe decided to make him hurry it by knocking him in the butt with his door to shove him in and peeling out. Trent yelped in surprise as he nearly landed on his face but quickly sat down while Sam smirked to himself. The silver Stingray's car squealed against the pavement, while speeding after the Peterbilt, who obviously was going Hot Rod and Bumblebee, himself. Or in the same direction as them. The two roared down the streets, with only a few people in the neighborhood looking out their windows. They had heard the explosions and some had definitely tried to call the police.

"Okay, Witwicky!" Trent said, clutching onto Sideswipe's seat with nervousness but he looked directly at Sam, who was doing the same as the car sped down the road. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but I know you do! So spill it! What is this thing?! And what the hell is going on?!"

"Keep calling me a thing, kid, and I will dump you out." Sides' voice growled through the radio, making Trent jump a little.

Sam rolled his eyes as he reached over and patted Sides' dashboard before looking at Trent. He knew very well that his school rival wasn't going to quit so why not just answer. "Okay, Long story short, Trent, this guy isn't a thing! He's a he and he's a autonomous robotic organism from a planet called Cybertron! Yes! They are alien robots! The good guys are called Autobots! The bad ones are Decepticons! The people you've been talking to at my place are only the holographic versions of the Autobots. They've been wanting to test their holographic human images for a while since Ratchet fixed them. Ratchet is the one we've been calling Dr. Ratchet. This is Sideswipe. That guy up there," He pointed at the Peterbilt truck right ahead of the silver car. "That's Optimus Prime. He's the Leader of the Autobots. The guy who's been trouncing around as your Porsche, he's Hot Rod." He tried to explain.

Trent looked completely bewildered but he shook his head. "And the jet who fired a missile at us? And that freak who grabbed me?" He asked, uneasily.

"Decepticons." Mikaela jumped in, looking at him with understanding. "The jet was Starscream. You remember the whole thing about Mission City? Well, it wasn't just terrorists that they were talking about. It was the Decepticons attacking the city, trying to get something from us and the Autobots. Starscream was one of those. I don't even know who the RX-8 was. What was his name again?" She asked, looking at Sam.

"His name was Shockwave." Sideswipe's radio crackled, causing Trent to jump again. "He's a mean son of a Glitch. Almost as mean as Starscream. He's pretty nasty and he uses EMP blasts a lot, blowing out communications. He uses EMP to block out our sensors. He's kind of like a Spy Changer just like Hot Rod and Bumblebee so that's why it was hard to detect him getting so close."

"Sides," Mikaela said, leaning forward. "What did Shockwave mean before? Who is Spitfire? And was he really serious about Optimus having a mate?"

There was a silence as the car weaved in and out of traffic right behind Optimus, enclosing in on Hot Rod and Bumblebee now. They could see them just ahead, bolting up the road that would lead to the lake. But then Sides let out a low sigh on his radio. "It's a long story and too long to tell you every detail. But yeah. Optimus Prime once had a mate, and he really cared for her before she was betrayed like all of us were."

"By Spitfire?" Sam asked, frowning. "But who is she? And why did Bumblebee take off like that?"

Sideswipe hesitated as he dove right around a mini van and followed after Optimus. "Spitfire was an Autobot, Sam. She was once a Valkyire just like Arcee. So she served right under Elita One, Optimus Prime's mate. But she betrayed the Autobots to Megatron. The betrayal killed Elita One and more than half of the Autobots. Alot of our comrades died because of her." He almost growled the last bit but hesitated again. "As for why Bumblebee took off like he did, it's because he feels responsible for Spitfire's betrayal. He's made an oath that if anyone is to kill Spitfire, it's going to be him. Heh." He sharply laughed. "But we all know he can't do it. Bee isn't strong enough to do that to Spitfire."

Sam and Mikaela glanced at one another then at Trent, who had been listening to the entire thing with a thoughtful frown. He was taking the whole situation rather well for someone who had just barely found out that his car had been a giant robot from outer space. "Why, Sides? Why is Bee not strong enough to kill Spitfire?" Sam had to ask, sounding very uneasy.

There was a very long silence as Sideswipe drove right after Optimus, slowing down only a little when they saw Hot Rod make the decision to stop Bumblebee now. Since there was no one on the canyon roads, the Spy Changer made a quick transformation and dove after the Camaro, grabbing Bee by the back and yanking him to a stop. "Bumblebee can't kill Spitfire because he still loves her. They were once best friends during the war before she turned traitor. We, the Autobots, know that if she hadn't tried to sell us out, they'd probably be mates by now." Sideswipe said before he came to a sudden halt right beside Optimus. He threw his doors open. "Get out, quick!"

The three teens, mostly Sam and Mikaela had been too startled at first at what the Autobot warrior said but when they heard him click loudly, warning them that he was about to start transforming, they scampered to get out of him with Trent and moved back as he finished his transformation before hurrying forward to help Hot Rod try and stop the Camaro from escaping. When that failed, Bumblebee transformed and tried to fight them off, trying to pull away and go up to the lake.

"Bumblebee! Stand down!" Optimus barked as soon as he stood up from his alter form. He turned sharply just as Ironhide and Ratchet quickly approached and the medical officer transformed. "Ratchet, Starscream?"

"He's several miles off, Optimus. He's just circling the valley and hasn't made a move to come any closer. Arcee and Sunstreaker have caught up to Shockwave just outside of Tranquility and are engaging with him now." Ratchet told him before hurrying forward to grab Bumblebee's other arm when he tried to knock Sides off of his other one.

"Bumblebee! Do not make me order you again!" Optimus warned him, giving the yellow and black mech a look of warning. For a few moments, Bumblebee made no move to obey Optimus' order but then he slowed his struggling, but not stopping, lowering his head and making a similar sound to the one he made when Sector Seven had captured him a year ago. "Bumblebee, stand down." Optimus said again, seriously yet there was a gentleness in his tone. He understood what Bumblebee was feeling and why he had acted like he had. He wasn't going to hold it against Bumblebee either.

Slowly, Bumblebee stopped trying to fight all three of his comrades off and his arms hung at his sides. He looked pretty pathetic but it really couldn't be helped. The look on his face was almost earth shattering as he turned his deep blue optics onto the Autobot Leader, looking almost pleading.

Sighing, Optimus shook his head as he moved forward a step. "Bumblebee, you've been carrying the burden of Spitfire's betrayal too long and with no purpose. What she did was never your fault. All the remaining Autobots know this." He let out a sigh as he glanced down at the humans as they stood together before looking back at the young mech. "You know as well as we do that you can't kill her. You still care for her. Do not pressure yourself to doing it when you know you can't. It will destroy you if you do. As for going to her, you cannot just go to the lake like you were about to. Elena Lincoln's life is on the line. If not from Spitfire, from Starscream or Shockwave. If Spitfire is their target, they will even harm her to get to her. We can not endanger her life because of what Spitfire did." he told him. "Now enough talk. We will capture Spitfire before Starscream and Shockwave does for later judgement. But right now, our main concern is the safety of Elena Lincoln. Autobots, roll out."

It didn't take very long at all to get to the lake, though they stopped a fair good distance so that they didn't alert Spitfire of their presence. Ratchet was keeping a good eye on Starscream's position. And it seemed that Arcee and Sunstreaker had lost Shockwave, so they didn't have a clue where he was now. Not even Ratchet could tell where he was.

"Ironhide, I want you to take Sam, Mikaela and Trent up to the lake and draw Elena Lincoln away from Spitfire. Captain Lennox, Sergeant Epps, you might as well as go along with them as extra protection. As soon as she is safe, the rest of us will move in. Spitfire has always had a good aim with her blaster gun and so we do not want any accidents to happen. Bumblebee," Optimus stated as they began their plan. "You will remain with Ratchet in the back. You are not to engage with her anymore than you have to. And that is an order." He looked around at the others. "We must act quickly. Spitfire is not to escape. We must capture her." He told everyone.

"Yes, sir." Most of the Autobots said sharply before they readied their selves.

With the three teens and the two soldiers, Ironhide drove up the road, leaving the Autobots back as stand by. They were keeping an open radio, of course. THey didn't want to take any chances at all for anything to happen at all. Sam was in a fit of nerves though. What he had learned from Sides had shaken him up a little and he felt some anger towards Spitfire already for what she had done. As far as he could understand, Spitfire had hurt Bumblebee very badly on Cybertron as well as the rest of the Autobots. And why? To save herself. He didn't like it at all.

Upon reaching the lake, the humans looked out and saw the hot red Lotus Elise S was sitting next to the lake with Elena laying on a towel, on the hood. She was no doubt sunbathing, seeing that all she was wearing was a red bikini. It seemed that she was the only one there at the lake. There wasn't another car or any people around.

"Ironhide," Sam said as he stared at the red car they were approaching. "Is there anyone else here? Any other humans?"

There was a pause as the large truck rolled closer to the car, his engine catching Elena's attention now. She had lift up her head before sitting up on the Lotus's hood, looking over at the truck with a hand shielding her eyes. But after a moment, Ironhide vibrated. "No. There is no one else here. Which is good, because if there is a fight, no one will get hurt." He rumbled.

Sam just nodded as he watched the Lotus, not even seeming to care that Mikaela and Trent was now looking at him with almost suspicion. They had seen the look on his face and knew that he was up to something. But he ignored them both, waiting as the truck stopped on the road, near where Elena was sunbathing. Once the truck stopped, Sam opened the door and hopped out, now moving rather speedily towards Elena, who smiled seeing him.

"Sam! What are you doing?" Mikaela asked as she and Trent hopped out of Ironhide with Lennox and Epps, who glanced at one another with a look that clearly read, "Uh-oh."

But Sam just shook his head as he stared dryly at the Lotus, not looking happy at all with it. He had made up his mind the very second he saw the Lotus as they approached the Lake. He was not going to draw out the theatrics anymore, even if it wasn't exactly the plan. So he just waltzed right up to the car.

"Hi, Sam." Elena said sweetly, waving at him as she sat up on the hood. She slid forward a little until her feet was on the grass and she just sat against the car, pulling on a white tank top and grabbing her short jean shorts to pull on. "Hey, Mikaela! What the hell are you doing here, Trent?" She asked, still sounding very friendly. She glanced at Lennox and Epps before looking back at Sam, who wasn't even looking at her. Her smile faded a little when she saw the look on his face. "Sam, are you okay?" There was a pause before Sam reached forward and grabbed Elena's hand, pulling her away from the car. He startled her a little but he chose to ignore her. Instead, he pushed her towards Trent, meeting his rival's eye, who seemed to understand. The jock had reached out and grabbed a startled Elena's arm, pulling her away further from the car. "Sam? Trent?! What are you doing?! What's going on here...?"

"Can it, Elena." Trent growled at her, his eyes on the Lotus with suspicion.

Sam just turned and looked sharply at the Lotus before he reached over and sharply rapped the hood, as if trying to get someone's attention. "All right, I'm just going to get to the point. Why the hell did you do it, Spitfire?!" He demanded. "Why did you betray the Autobots to Megatron?!"

There was almost a tense moment as everyone stared at him with shock, though if he had been looking, he would have seen that Elena's face paled just a little and her eyes grew wider. "Sam! What are you talking about?! Why are you talking to my car...?!" She was asking.

Mikaela's face darkened a little as she realized why Sam was doing this. She knew that he had been too surprised by what they had learned from Sides and he wasn't going to accept what Spitfire did to Bumblebee or the Autobots at all. So with a hard look on her face, she moved forward to stand right beside Sam and folded her arms tightly over her chest. "Spitfire! We know who you are! And we know what you did to the Autobots. So stand your tincan ass up and talk to us." There was no reaction for a moment before Mikaela lift her head and narrowed her eyes. It was time to bring out the big gun then, she decided. There had to be only one way of getting Spitfire to react. "So why did you hurt Bumblebee?! What the hell did he ever do to you to deserve you stabbing him in the back?!"

That did it.

There was a loud click and the car seemed to explode right before them. The Cybertronian made a swift transformation, faster than Sam and Mikaela or Lennox and Epps had ever seen. It twisted and turned very quickly until there was a 17 foot female robot standing before them, glaring down at them with hot, white-blue eyes trained on them, as well as the cannon gun in her wrist. Her body frame was almost like Arcee's, only bigger and a little more broader. It was a hot red and black color, just like her car form. She was very tall, almost as tall as Bumblebee but slightly smaller. And she looked vicious.

"I did not stab Bee in the back, you human cretin." A very cold yet soft voice hissed. She looked away from Sam when the large GMC clicked loudly and began to transform. She didn't look surprised though. In fact, she seemed to have been expecting it. "Hello, Ironhide."

Ironhide didn't respond just yet as he stood up, his gears and parts shifting into the right places. Once he was finished transforming only then did he respond, by raising both cannons and training them on Spitfire. He had a dark look about him though, so he was no doubt no happier to see that it really was her as she was to see him. "Spitfire." He growled at her.

There was a loud blast of a horn and many thuds before both Sunstreaker and Hot Rod came hurtling through the trees, where they proceeded to raising their cannons and aiming them at Spitfire. The two's thunderous footsteps made the ground shake and it became a little unstable for the humans to be able to stand still. Sam actually stumbled and fell against Spitfire's leg, catching himself on her. She didn't seem to notice or care though as she looked at all of the Autobots as they approached her, weapons drawn out. Both Arcee and Hot Rod looked the most hostile towards her though, glaring at her with the most hateful looks but Spitfire wasn't intimidated by them.

No, she seemed more intimidated by Optimus as he stood, towering over her, giving her a very serious look. She just looked back at him, a little drawn back but she wasn't surprised to see him at all. Her optics then flickered over to Ratchet as he stepped out from behind Optimus and then Bumblebee. It was Bumblebee's appearance that made a sharp hiss escape from her vocal system and she looked almost horrified to see him. She even stepped back, causing Sam to yelp and fall over onto the ground. But she paid no attention to him but stared right at Bumblebee, who looked back at her in a very forelorn way.

"Bee." She spoke almost painfully and full of emotion.

Surprised, Sam, Mikaela, Trent and both of the soldiers looked up at her before glancing over at Bumblebee, who stared back at Spitfire before turning his head away from her as if he couldn't bear to look at her. Then the humans looked back at Spitfire, who's head lowered and she too looked away from him, choosing to look at Optimus instead, who was nodding to Lennox and Epps. The two soldiers nodded before they started motioning to the teens that they needed to move out of the way. Epps had to reach out and grab Elena's wrist though, trying to pull her away.

But it seemed that Elena would have none of it. She planted her feet down and wrenched her wrist free from him, giving him a dark look as she hurried over to Spitfire. "Don't!" She nearly ordered as she quickly moved right over to Spitfire's leg, positioning herself next to it.

"Elena!" Trent yelled at her as he tried to go after her, only to quickly halt when he almost ran into Spitfire's glowing hot cannon. "Whoa!"

Several cannons and guns began to charge, pointing at Spitfire as she had lowered to her knee and put a hand around Elena, almost protectively. She was glaring mostly at Trent and Epps for trying to force Elena away from her but she looked up at Optimus when he held up a hand to the other Autobots to hold their fire. "Spitfire." He spoke deeply but not too seriously. "It's been a while."

Spitfire only dipped her head into a nod as she met Optimus' blue optics as she kept Trent at bay with her gun. "Yes, Optimus Prime, sir. It's been about, what? 500, 600 years since we last seen each other." She was speaking as if there was no tension between them though. "I know when we last saw one another, it was in hostility."

"I wonder why." Hot Rod said almost deadpanned.

Spitfire merely glanced at him but didn't answer as she turned her eyes back onto Optimus. The Autobot Leader had too glanced at Hot Rod but paid him no mind as he looked back at her. "Spitfire, disengage. Lower your weapons and release your hostage." He told her, using all authority. He wasn't going to play around. Not with her.

Spitfire let out a sharp laugh as she took her hand away from Elena and lowered her gun but did not put it away. She just remained bent down beside, Elena, who was looking around at everyone with distain. She was clearly not happy at all with how this situation as going. The female Cybertronian just shook her head as she stood up straight. "Optimus, I have no hostages. Elena is my young ward. I have been protecting her for nearly five years now." She nodded when almost everyone looked surprised. But instead of telling them any more, she looked over at Bumblebee, who was watching her with forelorn. "Optimus Prime, hear my request." She turned her optics back onto the Autobot Leader. "Get Bumblebee the Pit away from me. I don't want him near me."She told him.

Sam and Mikaela had still been very surprised and taken back by the emotion they had heard in Spitfire's tone whens he said Bumblebee. But hearing the way she had just said that, they lost all surprise and glared up at her. "Why?!" Mikaela asked, now moving forward. She yanked her arm free when Lennox tried to stop her. "Why, Spitfire?! Why try and send Bee away?! Because you went and tried to stab him in the back by betraying the Autobots?!"

"Mikaela, calm down." Optimus told her gently, waving a hand to her.

Spitfire, however, glared down at the human girl but she didn't move to react or anything. She just glared down at her before shaking her head. "I didn't have a choice! You don't understand, human! If you had to choose to live or die, I'm sure you would have chose to live!"

"There is always a choice! You didn't have to go and betray Optimus and the Autobots!" Mikaela snapped right back before she was being pulled back by Sam.

"Mikaela, please let me handle this." Optimus said as he bent down a little, looking down at her before turning his eyes back onto Spitfire, his eyes hardening a little. "Spitfire, I understand why you think you had no choice. Megatron does not give anyone rational choices when it comes to life and death or betrayal. But more than half of our comrades had been killed during that assault. And it was because you did tell the Decepticons our position. I understand more than you may think..." he was saying.

Spitfire shook her head as she looked sharply at him. "You're wrong, Optimus! You don't understand why I betrayed you! Believe me, I've been killing myself over it since it even happened! But you really think it was myself that I was trying to save?! I didn't want to die, yes! I admit it! I was, and am a coward! Megatron told me that he was going to kill me if I didn't tell him where you were! But I wasn't trying to save myself! It wasn't me that I was protecting!" She said sharply.

Hot Rod spat on the ground as he clenched his fist into a tight ball. "Oh yeah, Spitfire?! If you weren't selfishly trying to save yourself then who was it?! Tell us that?!" he snapped.

Spitfire shot him a nasty look and looked as if she was going to reply. But then her head jerked upward just as Ratchet's did. They both caught the sudden transmission at the same time before the others had. But by the time the other Autobots had picked up Starscream's and Shockwave's signal, they were both too close. The F-22 Raptor had nearly came out of nowhere, blowing through the trees of the park surrounding the lake. He was in mid-transformation, now throwing blasts at the Autobots. Some of his blasts hit Ironhide, the twins and even Hot Rod, knocking them backwards and nearly into the lake. A blast almost caught Optimus but he managed to deflect it with his own, causing quite the explosion. By that time, the Decepticon was so close that he could have rammed right into Optimus head on.

"Optimus!" Spitfire and Ratchet both exclaimed.

But it was Spitfire who reacted. She quickly moved right over the humans and leapt into Starscream before he could collide with Optimus Prime, sending them flying into another direction. Both of them crashed into the lake, yet didn't stop until they were well away on the other side. Her interference, however surprised all of the Autobots as well as the humans.

Elena, however, shook her head as she looked wide eyed after her alien friend as she was slammed into a bunch of trees with Starscream. She looked more panicked than surprised. "Spitfire! No!" She screamed, now trying to break free from Trent.

Everyone watched as Spitfire threw up a fist and slammed it against Starscream's head before kicking him off of her. She was quickly on her feet and turning sharply with her blaster gun out and trained on the Seeker, who also stood. They were definitely not on friendly terms with each other, no doubt about that. Starscream roared at her before charging to attack her again. He stumbled a little when Spitfire fired at him, hitting him in the shoulder before he crashed into her, sending her flying into the trees.

"Optimus! What the Pit are we to do?!" Ironhide exclaimed as he quickly got to his feet.

Optimus didn't answer for a long time as he watched the fight between Spitfire and Starscream as they lashed out at one another, punching at each other with their metallic fists and causing quite the damage. Sam, Mikaela, Trent and the two soldiers watched in alarmed awe as Spitfire moved very fast on her feet, dodging Starscream's blasts and his claws as he tried to slash her to pieces with them. She was moved rather graceful for a giant metallic robot. In a way, she looked more like a dancer as she escaped from the Decepticon's metal claws. She was definitely good at hand to hand combat, that was for sure as she lashed out a clawed foot and kicked Starscream in the head, knocking him back away from her.

Of course, matters didn't really help when Shockwave emerged from the trees and joined Starscream to attacking her. It just surprised everyone even more when they realized, the two Decepticons knew that the Autobots were there but they didn't seem to care. They wanted to take down Spitfire, not engage with them.

"They're after her." Lennox remarked the obvious. "They don't even care that we're here."

"NO!" Elena screamed as she began fighting to break away from Trent. She was yanking and pulling to get away from him but he just wouldn't let go of her. "Trent! Let go of me! Help her! You have to help her! They're going to kill her!" She looked sharply around at the other giant alien robots standing around, doing nothing but watching. Her face hardened a little as she turned her eyes onto Optimus. "Optimus Prime!" She yelled up at him.

That got their attention, everyone's. Everyone looked at her with alarm as she glared fiercely up at the Autobot Leader. They couldn't hide the fact that Elena even knew who Optimus was. Sure, she had just heard his name from Spitfire, but by the sound of it, she had heard that name more than just this time. "Elena?! You know who Optimus...!" Sam was asking in shock.

Elena had only glanced at him before she stomped on Trent's foot, causing him to exclaim in pain and release her. She ignored the cursing threats he was throwing at her as he hopped up and down, holding his foot until he fell over. She just looked up at Optimus who was looking down right at her. "Yes, Sam! I know who Optimus Prime is! I know about Bumblebee and I know about Cybertron! Spitfire told me everything when I found out about her!" She shook her head as she gazed up at the 28 foot robot before her. "Optimus Prime, you have got to help her! She is not your enemy!" She yelled up to him, flinching when she heard a loud crunch from on the other side of the lake.

"Not our enemy?! You fragging kidding me, girl?!" Hot Rod exclaimed, giving her an angry look before looking up to see that Spitfire was getting hammered by the two Decepticons now. "She is responsible for a lot of..." He was yelling.

Elena shot him a look but shook her head as she quickly turned her eyes back onto Optimus. "And yet she just jumped into the way before that Decepticon could slam into you! He was aiming for you! She saved you just now!" She shook her head once again, sighing in frustration. "Optimus Prime, it was Bumblebee she was trying to protect when she betrayed you years ago! Megatron was threatening her that if she didn't sell you out, he would kill him!" She yelled, pointing at the stunned yellow and black mech.

"What?!" Sam asked in shock.

All of the Autobots were staring down at Elena with alarm before they looked off across the lake to see that Starscream now had Spitfire pinned against the ground with a claw around her neck, while she was still trying to kick him off and shoot Shockwave in the face with her blaster, sending him staggering and stumbling away from them.

Sam and Mikaela, however, looked sharply up at the stunned Bumblebee as he stared at Elena for a very long time, as did Optimus. No one could say anything as they let her words repeat over and over in their thoughts. But then Bumblebee made up his mind quicker than the others. His face darkening a little he rose an arm and sharply looked over to where Starscream had Spitfire pinned. He launched himself to run around the lake to go to her aid.

"Bumblebee! Stand down! Frag!" Ironhide yelled after him before swearing and taking a few steps to go after him. He stopped himself and looked sharply around at Optimus. "Optimus!"

Optimus finally made up his mind as soon as Bumblebee jumped into action. He looked sharply across the lake at the battling pair; Starscream and Spitfire before turning sharply around to face the other Autobots. "Autobots! Assist Bumblebee in rescuing Spitfire! Draw Starscream and Shockwave back away from her before capturing her! I want her alive! She has some serious explaining to do once this battle is over. Ratchet, Hot Rod, stand by with me and protect our human allies! Prepare to assist immediately when needed. Roll out!" he ordered. The Autobots hesitated for only a moment before they jumped into action and raced after Bumblebee to go save Spitfire. They weren't sure if it was a good idea to save their betrayer but they knew that Optimus had his reasons for wanting Spitfire alive. So they would do as he asked.

There was a loud crunch as Spitfire lashed out a fist and punched Starscream, trying to get him off of her. He had been pretty vicious with his attacks and she knew why. But the blows he kept throwing at her weren't devastating enough to destroy her. She knew very well that he wasn't attacking her to kill. He was trying to capture her. "I'm not going back, Starscream!" She yelled as she threw him off of her and tried to stand.

However, Shockwave had came back after the blast to the head she had given him and slammed into her, knocking her off her feet again. There was a loud crunch as he landed on top of her but she did all her best to throw him off of her and into a bunch of trees. The trees were taking a lot of damage due to their fight and the park was getting ripped to shreds. But neither three cared as they battled it out.

"You can't avoid it, Spitfire!" Starscream yelled right back at her as he spun around and blasted Spitfire in the side with his cannons. The blow cause quite a bit of damage, severing a fuel line. He nearly sneered when Spitfire let out a metallic scream and staggered to the ground. He was quickly on her again, grabbing her around the neck with his claws and slamming a foot on her arm to keep her from lifting her guns to blast him with it. He shook his head. "You really think you can hide from Him forever, Spitfire?! He will come for you and you know it! You can't hide from the Chaos Bringer! He will come for you and he will destroy this miserable planet just to get to you!" He roared at her.

"No!" Spitfire hissed as she struggled to break free from his grip. "I...I won't go back to him, Star! You know I will kill myself before I become his servent again!"

Starscream snorted as he glared down at her, shaking his head as he met her white-blue optics with his fiery ones. "Oh, don't you worry about him, Spitfire! I will make sure he doesn't touch you again! All you have to do is submit and revive Lord Megatron and you won't have to worry about Lord...!" He was saying.

There was a loud explosion before a crunch as a blast cannon fired a shot, slamming into Starscream's back and sending him staggering right off of Spitfire. There was another blast that hit him, causing him to reel backwards but he had looked up in time to see Bumblebee thundering towards them, looking pretty vicious. He was definitely not happy, that was for certain. And right behind him were the rest of the Autobots. They were moving in quickly, weapons a blazing. Several blasts caught Starscream, causing him to stumble back away from Spitfire before he decided to get the Pit out of there.

With a loud metal whirl and several clicks, he turned sharply and blasted right off the ground, yelling, "You have no choice, Spitfire!"

Of course, Shockwave wasn't as lucky as he was, seeing that he was a car and not a jet. He recieved several blows and he even tried to fire right back at the Autobots as they moved in on his position. He yanked out a very long electric rod and swung it at Bumblebee as he moved very close. But there was a loud metallic clink before Sideswipe's ten foot blades sliced through the rod, slicing it in half before he could strike the youngest of the Autobots. The double blader spun quickly, kicking Shockwave hard in the side, causing him to stagger back just as Sunstreaker lashed out and slammed a fist against his face. If that wasn't enough, both Ironhide and Arcee shot at him, nailing him in the side and shoulder with blasts, causing him to spin on his feet.

It was those last blows then he decided to activate an EMP blast, causing an electric current to lash out and knock the Autobots back a little while he turned sharply and transformed into his car form. Dented and broken, Shockwave sped away as fast as his wheels could carry him. But not before Ironhide blasted him from behind again, causing him to crash into a tree. But it didn't stop him. He just peeled out, kicking up dirt and rocks as he was off again.

There was a silence now that the battle was over, other than Spitfire groaning and hissing in pain as she tried very hard to push herself up. She let out a cry in pain as the damage in her arm caused it to collapse a little and she fell over in a heap. She cried out again as she slammed a metal hand over her chest plate, acting as if it was causing her some pain. Bumblebee let out a loud whistle as he dropped down beside her and grabbed her shoulders to help her sit up. He was looking at her with concern, whirling and whistling as he looked into her startled white-blue optics but she shook her head as she tried to pull sharply away from him. "Bumblebee, no! Just...st-stay away...!" Her demands ended with an exclaim of pain as she doubled over, clutching her chest plate.

Only a moment later, Ratchet was speeding over in his truck form with Optimus and Hot Rod carrying the humans before making a swift transformation. He was quickly beside Bumblebee, who looked mildly hurt at Spitfire's reaction of him but more concerned about the position she was in. The Medicbot just lightly pushed Bee away, giving him a gentle order to give them some room before he turned sharply to attend to Spitfire. "Spitfire! Was your chest plate damaged?! Open it and let me see what the damage is!" he told her.

"No!" Spitfire protested as she tried to draw away from him, only to stop with another hiss. "I-I'm fine! It'll pass!"

Ratchet scowled at her as he grabbed her roughly and pulled her back towards him. With only a sharp look up at Ironhide and a wave of his hand, he kept a tight hold onto Spitfire, trying to keep her from moving back away. He held onto her until the Weapons Specialist came up behind Spitfire and grabbed her from behind, yanking her arms back to keep her from stopping the medicbot from tending to her. "Don't be stubborn now, Spitfire! You're having difficulties with your spark, aren't you?! It may be damaged and I need to see what...!"

Spitfire let out an angry hiss at Ironhide as she tried to fight him off but she let out a frustrated screech as she looked impatiently, yet pained at Ratchet. "It's not my spark! It's a slagging invention that Starscream put in me at the time of my betrayal! It was to keep me in line when I was to sell you out to Megatron!" She yelled at Ratchet, trying to yank her arm free from Ironhide's grip but he refused to let her go. "If you mess with it, it will kill me!"

The sudden news made everyone go quiet and stare at her with alarm. The Autobots just stopped and stood around her as Optimus finally moved closer and stood behind Ratchet, looking down at Spitfire. He carefully bent down beside Ratchet and looked into her optics as she struggled to calm herself down and slow the pain in her chest. "What kind of invention?" He then looked to Ratchet as the medicbot now activated his scanner and ran it over Spitfire's chest plate. The result was her hissing sharply before knocking Ratchet's arm away. "Ratchet?"

"I don't know. There is something there but I can't determine what it is." Ratchet said, not even offended that Spitfire hit his arm. He shook his head as he turned his own optics onto Optimus. "We need to get her in my lab so I can observe her there. But if it truly is one of Starscream's inventions, then it's not good." He told him.

Optimus just nodded before looking into Spitfire's pleading optics. He knew very well that she didn't want to become their prisoner but she really didn't have the strenth to fight anymore. She had no choice but to become their prisoner. Sighing, Spitfire lowered her head and looked away from Optimus, glancing up at a concerned Bumblebee but she turned her optics away, not wanting to look at him. Her gaze fell onto Elena as she moved slightly closer, only then did her expression soften a little. The young teen was looking terrified for her but she tried to hide it by smiling.

"It's going to be okay, Spit." Elena said trying to reassure her giant friend but she wasn't reassured herself. "You're going to be okay."

 

"You're going to be okay."

Spitfire watched the young startled Autobot look up at her sharply, alarmed that she had even snuck up behind him but all she did was laugh at him as she covered her mouth with one hand. She had to admit it but she was amused by his reaction. It wasn't every day that someone could actually sneak up behind this particular Cybertronian. Even as young as he was.

It had been on Cybertron, nearly a week since she was drafted in with the Autobots. The war was taking it toll on Cybertron as the Autobots and Decepticons continued to battle it out for control of the All Spark and the freedom of the planet. Quite a few Cybertronians had died in the battles and it was getting pretty bad. But it could have been worst.

The Decepticons could have been winning.

But alas, no. The Autobots were putting up a pretty good fight because of their leader, Sentinel Prime. It was no question that Sentinel Prime was not a bad warrior at all. No, he was actually a very good warrior. He could stand a chance against Megatron, there was no doubt about that. He had had his clashes with the Decepticon leader and had put up a pretty good fight. He was fast and vicious when he needed to be. And he fought very well with a laser lance and a electro shield that could generate force fields to protect its user or anyone around him. He had taken out several Decepticons even before he became the next Prime after Nova Prime had been killed in battle. Even as the new Prime, Sentinel had battled and destroyed quite a few Decepticons. He even had gone up against one of the legendary Seekers of the Decepticons and had put up a pretty good fight. However, he had actually lost the fight, due to that the Legendary Seeker hadn't been called a Legend for nothing.

But, he was not a favorite of the other Autobots either. Everyone wouldn't admit it out loud because of Sentinel's temper. He was hot headed and hated being critisized by anyone. A lot of the younger Autobots had kept referring him as a "Walking Malfunction" but they truthfully wouldn't say it to his face. He somewhat had a pompous attitude, which did have a few Autobots snicker behind his back.

The main reason why he was Sentinel Prime, though was because he was massive in size. Nearly as big as Megatron, maybe a little bigger, Sentinel Prime was intimidating. And he was more intimidating when he fighting against enemies. On the battle field, the pompous attitude and superiority complex he possessed vanished and he became a pretty nasty warrior. It was only recently did the Autobots started doubting his leadership because of the fight against the Legendary Seeker. He had came up against the Decepticon on the battle field, letting his overconfidence get in the way. He fought against the Decepticon, believing that he could take him just fine.

It didn't settle too well though.

The Decepticon was a mightier warrior than Sentinel Prime, no doubt about that. And he would have destroyed him if not for Sentinel Prime's biggest rival. Optimus Minor.

For a number of years before he became the new Prime, Sentinel Minor, at the time, had many troubles competing against Optimus Minor. They were both mighty warriors on the battle field and very intellingent. They both came up with excellent war strategies but the problem was, because of Sentinel Prime's superior attitude, he always put a fight against Optimus, always saying whose idea was better. Optimus Minor just didn't want to deal with an aching processor that usually came after arguing with Sentinel so he didn't even bother. After he had became the Prime, Sentinel mostly lead with his head, using all of his intelligence to lead the Autobots.

And for a number of years, it worked. Sentinel Prime could lead the Autobots into the head of the battle with excellent strategies and they usually came up on top. But it was only recently that caused an uproar between Sentinel Prime and the other Autobots. Sentinel Prime had been informed by another about the whereabouts of Megatron and his Decepticons and he came up with the plan to corner them and try to be rid of them for good. There was only one thing though. After going over the information and Sentinel's plan, Optimus Minor put up an arguement about how the information sounded more like a trap than anything else. He believed with all his spark that it was a trap. Sentinel, of course, argued his case and flat out told Optimus that he was the Leader of the Autobots and that was that. He wouldn't listen to Optimus and had lead a decent two hundred Autobots out to corner Megatron.

It was a trap.

The information had came from Soundwave, who turned Decepticon after that and Sentinel Prime had lead his troops into a trap where the Decepticons had flanked the Autobots and destroyed many of them. It was there that Sentinel Prime had fought the Legendary Seeker and would have perished if Optimus Minor had not arrived in time to fight him off. No one really knew what exactly happened at that fight but when Sentinel Prime and Optimus Minor returned to the Autobot Base, they returned with a new ally.

The Legendary Seeker, Decepticon Designation; Jetfire.

After that, a new recruit order had gone out and the young Spitfire was one to answer the call. She had been drafted in just like everyone else, tested by higher ranked Autobots. The Autobots learned very well that Spitfire was like her name. She had the spirit of spitfire and was pretty vicious in battle when she wanted to be. She was fast and had a very good aim with her blaster arm. She had showed one of the Weapons Specialists; Ironhide, actually, that she was almost as good as he was. Not completely as good as him, but pretty close.

She was already becoming a favorite among some of the Valkyries, the Female Autobots. She was already befriending one of the higher ranked Valkyries, Elita One, who was very respected among all of the Autobots. In fact, everyone knew that it was the fact that Elita One was a decendant of a Prime. She was known as a Princess of Cybertron because of that. But she refused any high titles and told everyone to do the same.

It was only that morning on Cybertron, during another new recruitment test did she meet the one Cybertronian that would change her life for good.

She had been with some of the Valkyries, learning from them about how they battled Decepticons when she looked out from the base window and saw the new recruits out in the field with a number of high ranked Autobots who were in charge of testing the recruits. Being the curious one, Spitfire had decided to go out onto the field to watch the tests. She went out with some of the Valkyries, including Elita One and stood off to the side to watch. Their presense didn't go un-notice, unfortunately for some of the new recruits. Most of the recruits were male, with only one or two females among them. And seeing the Valkyries and Spitfire, they became at least a little distracted. Some of the recruits even tried to call to some of the females, teasing them and in a way, courting. Some of the females thought they were being cute while Spitfire and Elita One rolled their optics and chose to ignore them. The new recruits were sharply reprimended by the commanding Autobots though. But there was just one that caught Spitfire's attention.

The young male hadn't been one of those who taunted and teased the females. In fact, he had only watched them in silence and shook his head in disapproval when one of the new recruits had made a remark that got his head slapped by one of the Autobot officers. But then he noticed one of the females, obviously Spitfire, staring at him. He met her optics and they stared at one another for a moment before he offered a smile and waved a hand to her.

It was only to his satisfaction did Spitfire acknowledge him by smiling back and waving back at him.

The tests went just fine although Spitfire was mostly just watching that one male Cybertronian. She watched in facination as he transformed into an interesting Cybertronian car and she silently cheered him on when he blew the others away by how fast he was on his wheels. He was fast, she had to admit. Faster than her and she was pretty swift, herself. He was also a dead shot with a blaster cannon, blowing targets to bits with his cannons. He was good.

Of course, a few times he had been distracted by her presense, now and then glancing over at her to see if she was still there and watching him. He would start grinning when he saw that she was. And that was how he missed his target and accidently shot Sentinel Prime in the rear.

Sentinel Prime had been furious and had demanded to know who had shot him but no one, not even the Autobot officers sold out the young male. They were all too busy laughing. Even Spitfire was doubled over, leaning against Elita One as they both laughed together. Even the Decepticon Seeker, Jetfire was roaring with laughter while Sentinel Prime was still demanding to know who shot him. After a while, and extremely embarrassed, the young male stepped forward and admitted that he had been distracted. Sentinel Prime hadn't been too kind to him though and that had made Spitfire a little angry at the Autobot Leader. The Prime had nearly stripped the young male of any chance of becoming an Autobot.

But it was Optimus Minor, who managed not to laugh that changed his mind. He had stepped forward with a gentle nature and talked Sentinel Prime into giving the young male another chance. It was then that Spitfire found herself truly admiring the Cybertronian who would some day become the next Prime.

After the tests and recieving a warning from Sentinel Prime, the young male was allowed to join the Autobot ranks. He was still being teased and taunted by some of the other Autobtos though, which caused him more discomfort and embarrassment. And that was when Spitfire decided to walk straight up to him while he was consuming some Energon. Her approach made quite a few go quiet and watched them as she went over and stood over him.

"You're going to be okay."

The young male's head jerked up and looked at her in alarm and surprise before he lowered his head again, looking somewhat ashamed. He was embarrassed that she had seen him mess up by shooting the Autobot Leader and now she was approaching him. He couldn't help but think of any other way that his day could get worst.

Smiling, Spitfire walked up to him before plopping down next to him and offering an Energon cube. She held back a laugh when he gave her a wide optic look, looking somewhat taken aback but she shook her head as she grabbed his metallic hand and placed the cube in it. Then she met his optics, giving him a gentle look. "Don't let it get to you. Everyone makes a minor mistake once in a while in their lives. I won't even tell you how many mistakes I've made since I was created. It's embarrassing." She then lightly pushed his shoulder with her own. "Besides, I think everyone is secretly cheering the Autobot that shot Sentinel Prime." She said in a whisper.

The young Autobot had to smile at that as he looked almost shyly at the Energon cube in his hands. He kept his gaze adverted from her as he stared for a moment. Then he lift his optics to hers. "So...so you don't think I'm an screw-head?" He said quietly.

"Sparky," Spitfire said with amusement. "I think you were brilliant. It's about time someone shot that pompous slagger in the aft. Maybe it'll jump start his processor and get him to realize he's not the most popular Prime we've had. And anyone who calls you a screw-head, direct them towards me. I'll show them who the real screw-head is. No one messes with my friends."

The young male's optics lit up as he looked at her brightly. He looked as if he had been waiting his whole life for someone to say something like that to him. "You...I'm your friend?" he asked, almost hopefully.

Smiling brightly, Spitfire nodded as she leaned against the young male's shoulder. She looked rather pleased with herself for making a new friend already. Especially out of this male. She wouldn't admit it out loud but she thought he was cute. He seemed to have an interesting personality even if this was the first time they actually spoke. "Of course, Sparky, you're my friend. Maybe, we'll become best friends." She told him, winking and causing him to look bashfully away. She laughed and lightly nudged his shoulder again. "I'm Spitfire."

The young male smiled and looked back into her white-blue optics, looking pleased to have learned her name. "Bumblebee. My name is Bumblebee." He told her, earning a just as pleased smile from her.

 

Author's Note: That last bit, as you all may realize, was a flash back to the point where Spitfire and Bumblebee first met. I just thought it was best to shed a little light on some of the past. So now and then there will be a few flash backs so we can understand a little more about how close Spitfire and Bumblebee are and why she betrayed the Autobots. But I'm thinking, you're all getting the idea already.


	9. Bad Situation

Things were not going well as they were planned.

The Secretary of Defense, John Keller had been in an important meeting with the President, stating that they did have a minor situation in Russia when his phone rang. He was not in the mood for any interruptions so he simply connected it to his secretary so she could deal with it at the moment then went on to explain how he sent a team of agents to Russia to pick up the girl that had hacked into their system to get the information on the Mission City attacks. He stated that they were simply collecting her to find out what she knew and what she had meant about the giant robot in Russia that was threatening her father or the crew of the Typhoon sub.

The phone began to ring again.

Cursing his stupid phone and the person who was calling him, Keller turned away from the vid screen he had put up with the president. "Excuse me, sir. Forgive me." He then reached over and picked up his phone, glancing at the ID screen. It did put him in a better mood to see that it was the agent he had put in charge of collecting Miss Anastasia Karpos. Sighing, he answered. "Keller, here. Agent Ryans, you better have a good excuse for interrupting my meeting with the president..." He was saying.

"Mr. Secretary, we have a situation."

That didn't sound good.

"What kind of situation? Did you find Miss Karpos or not? Or is she being difficult to reason with?" Keller asked, irritated.

There was a minor pause on the other line, as if the agent was hesitating. That wasn't really a good sign at all. But then Agent Ryans let out a low sigh over the phone and he cleared his throat. "We've made contact with Miss Karpos' family and her older sister, Corpella Karpos stated that she had spoken to Miss Karpos only a few days ago, the day the call was made. She reported that Anya was quite irrational and hysterical. She claimed that her sister believed with every inch of her soul that her father, Mr. Vladimir Karpos was in danger because of the acclaimed Cybertronian here in Russia." He hesitated. "She also stated that Anya was planning on entering the United States, to warn our Government about the threat. We went to the airport to receive Miss Karpos, but..." He stopped.

Keller felt the dread once again. He didn't like the way that his agent was hesitating. "But what? What happened?" He asked quickly.

"..." The Agent hesitated again before he cleared his throat again. "We could not locate Miss Anya Karpos, sir. We asked ticket takers and the security if they had seen Miss Karpos. No one has but one ticket taker. She claims that she took Miss Karpos' ticket but then the girl was approached by men. She overheard them tell Miss Karpos that if she did not go with them, they would take her by force. She believed that they were Government agents, like our selves. But when we contacted the Russian Government to find out if they sent anyone in to collect her, they denied it. Only one Government Agent was sent to interrogate Miss Karpos but...they lost contact with him. And he was by himself. He was not with anyone else. But the ticket taker claims that he was with American Government Agents." He hesitated again. "Sir, we did not send anyone to meet with the Russian Agent to pick up Miss Karpos. I believe someone else is interfering with the investigation of Anya Karpos." 

"Damn it! So you're saying that someone has taken our only witness and connecting link to finding out if there is a Decepticon or an Autobot in Russia?!" Keller exclaimed.

"Yes, sir. As for the news about the Typhoon, sir. We've tried to make contact, ourselves with the officers aboard. We received no transmission from them. So we asked the Russian Government to do it for us. They tried. But there is no news of the submarine at all. In fact, it's vanished off their radar system. No one knows where it is now." 

Gritting his teeth, Keller reached up with one hand and began biting his knuckles, which was something he did when he was troubled or thinking too hard. He knew that this was a very bad situation in deed. It was time to contact the Autobots. "Agent Ryans, gather as much information as you can on Vladimir Karpos and the Typhoon submarine. Get permission from the Russians to take the Karpos' into custody. I don't want to take any chances of them becoming victims of the Decepticons, just in case that the Cybertronian is one. We have to make sure that this family is protected and kept under wraps as much as possible. And do yourselves a favor and find Anya Karpos. Now!" He then hung up, staring off at the wall. He was quiet for a very long time before looking at the vid screen of the President. He obviously had heard the whole ordeal from him. "Sir, I think we should wrap up this meeting. Forgive me, Mr. President."

"Contact Optimus Prime immediately, John. This just became their problem. If this giant robot is a Decepticon, we need them to deal with it." The President only said before closing the connection.

Keller swore as he quickly reached over and grabbed his phone again and pushed a certain number. He held up the phone to his ear and had to wait for only a moment before someone answered. "Simmons, we have a situation that calls for the Autobots' attention." he immediately said.

"Sir, I was just about to call you. It seems we had a situation with the Autobots."

His mind now reeling, Keller threw up his hand and let out a frustrated sigh. This was definitely not his day. Too many situations were being thrown at him left and right. First, it had to be the phone call from a Russian hacker stating that there was a Cybertronian in Russia. Now that hacker was missing, along with a nuclear powered submarine. And now this. "Of course there's a situation with the Autobots! There are situations popping up every where! What is it now?"

Simmons hesitated, sensing Keller's frustration and annoyance but then he replied, "Two hours ago, NBE-D2 and NBE-D6 attacked Tranquility, sir. It seems to me that the target was at the Camaro Kid's residence. NBE-A1 and his team..."

"Simmons, right now there is a lot on my plate, so enough with the stupid codes and numbers! Speak as if you will!" grumbled the Secretary.

There was another pause before Simmons let out his own frustrated sigh. "Sir, two Decepticons attacked Sam Witwicky's house where he was holding some kind of party with the Autobots. Which, I'm annoyed to say, I didn't get invited." He grumbled but then cleared his throat when he heard Keller's sharp intake of breath. "Anyway, as far as I know, the Decepticons were after information from a civilian who didn't even know about the Autobots! He didn't know anything and yet, the Camaro kid, Witwicky let him hang around the Autobots until they got attacked. The Decepticons were looking for another unknown Cybertronian, which I'm still trying to figure out if it's an Autobot or a Decepticon. They ripped up the Tranquility Lake fighting the Decepticons! Now there are two civilians who are aware of the Non-Biological Extraterrestrials." He sounded very annoyed by the report. "Sir, I've told you time and time again. It's not a good idea to continue letting those things stay..." 

"Simmons, shut the hell up. I don't want to hear your complaints about the Autobots! Right now, I just had a lot more than I can handle dumped onto my lap! Now, do what you can to clear up the mess and then have Optimus Prime contact me! It's urgent that he does!" Keller ordered before slamming his phone down. He was feeling a lot of pressure on him right now and it was not good. Too many things were happening at once and he wasn't prepared for it. "Somehow, I get the feeling that the Karpos girl is what we need to bring everything together." He said, thinking out loud to himself. 'But where is she?'

 

Anya had never ridden in a jet before so she was somewhat excited about it, yet anxious. She had to admit it though, she was more anxious about the situation she was in now. She didn't like it at all where she was at. The agents who had custody of her now were very strange; she knew that from the beginning. She remembered exactly how she came to be riding the weird aerial craft. It wasn't like any jet she had ever seen though.

The jet had been on an isolated air field, on the other side of the airport. It was a heavy jet, so it wasn't small but it wasn't huge. According to her knowledge on any aerial crafts, it was a Falcon 2000 air charter. On the tail fin, Anya saw the serial numbers for it. It read: CYCLNS 2000. It could have fit at least ten people inside of it that was for certain. It was a deep gray with violet markings all over it. Inside the jet, the seats were steel gray and did look somewhat comfortable. The floor carpet was a violent purple color though. There were at least nine windows on the fuselage. There was a large flat screen TV on the wall near the door where Anya was lead into.

It was a very unusual jet, in deed.

So for nearly six hours, Anya was sitting in a fetal position and biting her nails as she looked out at the window, watching as clouds flew by. She had already been interrogated by Agent Domovoi, who hadn't been the kindest person talking to her. But one thing was for sure, he was a whole lot nicer than the other agents. They were constantly snapping at her and demanding her to tell them what she knew about the so called giant robot. She had been pretty nervous about the whole thing and spoke with a shaky voice. She refused to answer any questions unless they were a little nicer about it.

So far, Agent Domovoi was the only one she'd talk to. He had been standing off, watching the other agents question her but after Anya nearly broke down in a fit of anger and fear, he ordered them to back off. It only surprised Anya that the other agents actually listened. So apparently, Agent Domovoi was the one in charge of the whole thing.

"Miss Karpos," Agent Domovoi spoke as he approached her. He sank down in the chair across from Anya, looking at her twitch a little in nervousness. "Miss Karpos, it's been six hours now and we haven't learned anything from you. I don't know if you're aware of this but if the crew of the Typhoon submarine is truly in danger, you are the only one who can save them. Now, we need to know anything that you can tell us." He told her calmly, yet still sounding stoic.

Anya glanced at him before letting out a sigh and looking away towards the window again. "I have a question for you, Agent Korbács." She then turned her dark eyes back onto Agent Domovoi who straightened a little. She knew he was just as irritated as the others were but he was being more patient about it. "Do you like your job?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Agent Domovoi asked blankly. Anya looked over at him, giving him a raised eyebrow look. Impatiently, he looked away as he sat back into his chair before turning his dark eyes back onto her. "Yes. I like my job."

"Why?" Anya asked, almost taunting him.

Agent Domovoi narrowed his eyes at her before he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He was annoyed; there was no doubt about that. But he was keeping his temper in check. "I just do. My job allows me to track down and persecute enemies. Now, if you don't mind. Are you willing to tell me what your father sent you and can you tell me what you know about the giant robots? Or do we have to do this the hard way?" He asked, dryly.

Anya rolled her eyes but then reached down into her bag, grabbing her laptop. She pulled it up onto her lap and turned it on. She glanced up at Agent Domovoi, giving him a playful glare for trying to see what she was doing but then she chose to ignore him. "All you have to do is say the magic word. You know? Please?" She almost laughed when he gave her a dry stare. "You know what your problem is? You are just like every Government agent. You're so strict and too professional. You guys need to learn how to relax and be a little friendlier." She told him before letting out a light sigh. "Things go faster that way."

There was a pause between them as she went onto logging onto her laptop and he watching her. But after a moment, Agent Domovoi decided she had a point. Letting out a sigh and running his hand through his thick dark hair, he nodded. "You're right. Things do go faster when we're more on friendly terms." He then forced a friendly smile and held out his hand. "Let's start over. I'm Domovoi Korbács."

Anya looked at him for a moment before she smiled right back and took his hand, giving it a shake. "Anya Karpos. Now, see? That wasn't so hard." She told him almost in a teasing voice.

Rolling his eyes, but smiling, Agent Domovoi nodded to her lap top. "So what are you doing?" He asked, actually sounding curious.

"I," Anya paused as soon as she was on her laptop and then began pulling up the files that she had saved onto her computer. She didn't answer for another few seconds before nodding for him to sit next to her, which he did. "I am pulling up something that you should see. As you might have guessed, I am a hacker. Which," She looked pointing at him. "I really hope you guys won't hold it against me. I'll admit it; I'm nosy when it comes to top secret things. I'm hoping I can get a job in the Government some day. But I just really do not want any criminal records against me. My father would kill me if I got into serious trouble like that." She pulled up a video file and turned her laptop a little so that Agent Domovoi could see. "A year ago, as you might now, there was a terrorist attack on an American city, Mission City, Nevada. I heard about it through a friend and I had to see it for myself. I knew I should have kept my nose out of it, but like I said, I'm nosy. I wanted to see what the whole deal was so I hacked into a public street security system, using another hacker's codes as under cover. So if I got caught, they would think I was that other hacker."

"Scandal." chuckled Agent Domovoi, actually amused by how deceptive this girl really was.

Anya shrugged looking as innocent as she could. "Hey. A hacker does what they have to do to make sure they don't get caught. I also used a computer virus which I called a Pathsweeper to erase any connections towards me. So when the hacker that I used did get caught, it wouldn't come back to me. It keeps any links from being connected to me. Anyway, like I said. I hacked into the public streets security system to see what the whole deal was in Mission City and...well, I found this." She told him before hitting play.

On the screen of her laptop, the video clip was from a street camera on street light. It was one of the cameras that could capture anything that was happening on the streets of Mission City. At the moment, there was a lot of people running and screaming and there were explosions happening in the background. The two viewers couldn't see the source of the explosions yet until something seemed to explode right out of a city building. And Agent Domovoi actually looked surprised to see that it was a pair of dueling giant robots. The two were trying to kill each other but punching at each other or blasting each other to pieces with unusual weapon systems.

"You look surprised." Anya said, frowning as she looked at him. "I thought you knew about the giant robots."

Shaking his head, Agent Domovoi just narrowed his eyes as he continued to watch an epic battle taking place between the two robots before one was being shot to hell by F-22 jets flying over head. "I did...I do. But I've never seen the actual footage of the alien robots. I was only told about them. They're bigger than I thought."

"Ye-ah. Because they are giant alien robots. What part of giant don't you understand?" Anya asked, very amused as she lightly nudged him with her fist.

Glancing un-amused at her, Agent Domovoi just shook his head as he returned to watching the footage. "What else do you have? Do you have any more that we can see? Were those the only two robots fighting?" He asked, very interested in the entire subject.

Anya nodded as she pulled up more footage, a light smile on her face as she did so. "No, there was more. But, yes. I do have more. When I saw this footage, I went to hacking into more of the security system. I even picked up footage where some of the alien robots were actually protecting people. I don't understand it though." She shook her head as she pulled up another video clip of several robots covering humans from a large tank, which turned into a very large robot when a smaller one jumped on top of it and proceeded to yanking out weapons from its shoulders. "If these robots are alien invaders, why did they defend the humans? What are they doing here and what do they want?" She asked, looking at the agent.

There was a long silence as the Russian Agent just watched but then he looked away, almost too thoughtfully. It looked like he was doing some careful thinking. "I don't know. As far as I know, all of the alien robots are dangerous. They are not here with good intentions. It's possible that those robots were only protecting people so that they could take human slaves. I'm not sure. Our Government has our theories. The Governments are working to destroy the alien invaders but we fear that it won't work. The alien robots are too big and too strong for even our military weapons. We can't determine what they want. But as far as I can tell, during the Mission City incident, a lot of Americans were killed because of the invaders. I don't even know if these things are even safe."

"What about my father?" Anya asked, now sounding very worried. "Is he going to be okay?"

Agent Domovoi looked at her, hearing the fear in her voice. He just stared into her eyes for a moment before he tried to force a smile as he nodded. "I'm sure he'll be fine. As long as he does what he needs to do, I think you'll see him again. To be honest, if he's anything like you, I think he's doing great." he told her.

Anya looked at him before smiling as she turned her eyes away from him. She felt her face flushing at least a little. She felt a little embarrassed by his remark but she also felt glad for it. She couldn't help but think that he was giving her a compliment about how she was trying to be brave. "I don't know about that." Her face fell a little and tears began to sting her eyes as she thought about her father. "I'm...I'm actually really scared. My father is with one of those things and I'm stuck in a stupid jet going who knows where." She remarked before her eyes flashed and she looked out the window again. "Speaking of which, where are we going?"

The Russian agent frowned as he glanced at the window before shaking his head and standing up. He turned to look over at the other agents as they were conversing with one another. "That's a good question." He started walking over to them. "Where is the pilot..." He was saying.

Suddenly there was a loud boom and the jet gave a sudden jerk, causing Agent Domovoi to stumble hard against the wall, and Anya screamed as she was nearly jerked out of her seat. She had to catch her laptop from being thrown to the floor, where she quickly proceeded to shutting it down and shoving it into her bag as she looked wide eyed at Agent Domovoi who looked sharply out the window. The agents, however, stiffened as if they had just been told something before they let out the strangest noise that Anya had ever heard.

A metallic screech.

Eyes growing wide, Anya felt as if someone had just punched her in the chest. That was the same sound that the came from her father's signal. The language of the giant robots. "No, no, no, no!" She yelped before she jumped to her feet and snatched up her bag. She knew very well that this was not good. "Domovoi! Those agents!" She screamed before yelping as she was thrown against the wall because the jet jerked again as soon as there came an explosion from outside. "Domovoi! Those are alien robots!" She yelled.

Agent Domovoi looked sharply at her before turning around and glaring at the other agents, who were struggling to keep being thrown against the walls. But without a word, he yanked out a gun from inside his jacket and fired at one of the agents. There was a loud clunk before one of the men seemed to explode. His skin turned silver and he simply became a large seven foot robot, looking sharply at the Russian agent. The other agents shuddered before the exact same thing happened to them and they too were robots. Agent Domovoi pointed his gun at another of the robots, who snarled at him before lashing out and smacking him hard to the side. He hit the jet's wall before crumpling to the ground. The robots then turned their hot red optics on a terrified Anya, who cowered.

"No!" Anya only screamed as she hugged her laptop.

And before the robots could start towards her, there was another loud crunch as something rammed into the jet, throwing it hard out of the sky.

Anya couldn't even stand still when that something rammed into the jet. She shrieked as she was thrown to the ground, as were some of the alien robots. She only grimaced as she hit her head against the floor, causing stars to explode right before her eyes. She just laid there for a moment, feeling the jet tossing and turning before something seemed to explode all around her. The jet seemed to fall apart, right around her, ejecting her right out of the craft into open sky.

Shrieking, Anya opened her eyes and found herself falling. She turned her head sharply to see what just happened and her breath, if she had any because of the fall, caught in her chest. The jet had exploded but not in the way she though it would. It had actually transformed, now locked in a battle. It was a giant alien robot just as she had thought. It was locked in a battle with an ink black and violent red transformer robot who was now throwing a metal fist hard into the Falcon 2000's twisted face.

Not being able to help herself, Anya screamed again, wasting her breath as she fell a high velocity.

The black and red transformer, however, seemed to have heard her because its head jerked to look around its enemy, and its fiery red gaze spotted her, kicking and screaming as she plummeted towards the earth. Letting out a loud grunt, the transformer kicked out hard into the Falcon 2000's chest, knocking it hard away from it before it turned sharply and transformed into a large Blackbird jet. With a loud boom, it blasted off away from the Falcon 2000 right after Anya.

Anya heard it before she saw it. She just heard the screaming of the engines before she turned her head sharply to see the Blackbird moving fast towards her. She screamed, still hugging her bag tightly to her and closed her eyes. She truly believed that the jet was going to hit her.

However, she was nearly shocked out of her mind when there came a loud metallic click and the sound of metal grinding against metal before she felt something enclose around her.

Her eyes snapped wide open when she felt hot metal wrap around her, jerking her upward. She looked wide eyed up at the giant robot now holding onto her as they both fell out of the sky. There was an actual giant alien robot catching her. She couldn't find her breath to scream but stare in fear as it looked down at her with its fiery red gaze, still plummeting towards the earth, which was no doubt only 500 feet away now. What surprised her even more was how gentle the giant robot was being with her. She had been expecting to be crushed immediately once the robot had her but instead, it was pulling its fist close to its chest as it made a half transformation to slow its fall.

Just before it could pick itself up out of the fall, there were several loud screeches, which caused the transformer to jerk around to see several smaller robots now speeding towards it. They were like little jets, almost large model plane sized. Each and every one of them was a sharp silver and violent purple with fiery eyes on each one of them. They were coming in fast to attack the Blackbird.

"Hand the human over, traitorous scum!" A metallic screech found Anya's ears.

The Blackbird robot jerked its other arm outward and there was a blinding white flash as several blasts exploded out of its arm, striking several of the smaller robots. The giant robot that held Anya only tightened its grip around her, yet not painfully tight. It was more like embracing her as if expecting some kind of collision.

And then it hit the ground.

Anya's head felt like it nearly exploded from hitting it against the robot's metal hand and she couldn't even find herself to screaming as she felt a sharp jerk around her before hearing the rumbling crashes. She just braced herself as she felt everyone shaking violently around her. She truly believed that she was going to die out of this. And eventually, there came the welcoming oblivion of darkness swarming to meet her.

She wasn't even sure how long she was out but she knew that once she woke up, she was no longer in the clutches of the giant robot. She felt her entire body aching as she slowly woke up to the dulled explosions from all around her. She heard metal slamming against metal before there were deafening booms. Her eyes fluttering open, she saw dulled light all around her. The ground was vibrating and rumbling violently under her but it seemed a little ways off. Anya groaned as she tried push herself up but felt sharp pain in her arm, causing her to cry out. She had been on her stomach but with some effort, she pushed herself onto her back. Her head was throbbing painfully, making it very hard to think.

Another explosion outside whatever shelter she was in made her jump and look wildly around. She was surprised to find herself in rocky shelter. Some how, she had been placed into a cave.

Grimacing, Anya tried again to push herself up against the rocky wall, only to jump at another explosion. That one had rocked her shelter, causing her to gasp and accidently inhale dust when it kicked up all around her. She covered her head with her not so hurt arm and waited for the cavern to collapse around her. She listened to explosions for a good solid several minutes before they slowly died down.

Soon, there was nothing but eerie silence, other than metallic screeches outside the cavern.

Shaking, Anya slowly looked at the opening of the shelter, waiting for something to emerge there and scare the living hell out of her. She stared for a long moment, listening to only thunderous booms and felt the ground shaking under her. She felt her blood drain from her face as she watched a shadow pass over the opening. She began to shake violently as she saw it coming closer then stop, still standing over the cavern. It didn't move though and nothing happened. Still shivering, she pushed herself to her feet and crept to the opening, being very careful and as quiet as she could manage. She saw greenery every where outside the cavern, so she was no doubt no longer in Russia. Judging by the terrain, it was somewhere in Asia. She could see that Bamboo trees had been knocked over and splintered at the mouth of the cavern.

Her breath very raspy and coming out sharply, she crept to the mouth and carefully peered out. She couldn't see what the shadow belonged to, but it was no doubt standing over the shelter. Shivering again, she slowly peered out further, looking fearfully up into the sky, only to freeze.

The large black and red robot was there, looking off away from where she was at. It was looking up into the sky, actually. It was as if it was waiting for the other robot to come back to attack it. The robot, itself, was what brought more fear to Anya. It was massive in size. It stood almost twenty-two feet tall with a very large frame. It's Blackbird wings were folded behind its back, almost like black angel's wings, but it was no where near being an angel. Still, it was huge. Bigger than the robots she saw from her video clips. Her breath unsteady, Anya drew back into the shelter again, looking wide eyed at the ground. She had no idea how she was going to get away from this thing. If it saw her trying to run away, it wouldn't be any trouble catching her. But she couldn't let it. She needed to get away as fast as she could, get to safety, if there was even a place for her. She still felt shock in her system and she was fighting herself from fainting. She could feel herself shutting down again but she knew that she couldn't do it. She had to get away first.

"You can do this, Anya." She whispered to herself before grabbing her back, hanging at her side and hugging it tightly. She only hoped that her laptop hadn't been damaged in the fall from earlier. She couldn't check it now though. She'd have to do it later. Taking a deep breath, she started to step forward, ready to bolt.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble and the cavern roof starting moving. Anya let out a startled shriek as she collapsed onto her rear and she looked wide eyed up to see that it had been lifted up, showering her with sunlight, other than the shadow from the giant robot. She looked fearfully up at the large black and red robot as it looked down at her. Her breath caught in her chest again and her body completely went on shut down, not being able to move at all. She just stared up with fear.

The large alien robot just pushed the large boulder aside as if it were nothing before it carefully lowered itself down to its knee, moving closer to the young human.

It was then, Anya found her strength to quickly stand, ignoring the pain in her left arm. She let out a terrified scream and turned to bolt. She knew it was stupid to run. There was no way she could get away from that thing. But she had to try. She had to get away from it as fast as she could before it caught her. She felt tears starting to run down her cheeks as she began running down a grassy slope before she glanced back to see how far it was. And to her surprise, it hadn't even moved. It just sat there, watching her run before it's fiery eyes lit up and it stood sharply, now moving forward.

A second later, Anya knew why.

The ground simply left her feet, or at least she left the ground. She shrieked again, jerking her head forward only to see that she had just ran off a cliff. She gasped sharply as she saw herself now falling off the fifty foot slope towards a rocky river below. However, before she fell too far, the jet black robotic hand lashed out right under her and caught her before she completed her fall.

Anya's head nearly spun on her neck as she turned sharply to look up at the giant robot that caught her. She couldn't stop herself from screaming again as it brought her back up. "Help! Someone!" She cried out before she yelped as the robot turned around and lightly dropped her back down onto the grassy ground below them. She collapsed onto her back but didn't move again as she looked up at it with fear. It was just standing over her, looking down at her with almost, surprisingly concerned look in its fiery red eyes.

"Your arm has been damaged, but it's merely dislocated. You will need medical treatment immediately to avoid any more damage. There is minor bump on your head, so you could be suffering from a concussion. So I suggest you not to try and run again. The next time you do, you could drift off into stasis and not wake up again."

Flinching at it's powerful voice, Anya cowered under its gaze but she didn't say anything but stare wide eyed up at it. She couldn't bring herself to say or do anything again. She just stared wide eyed up at the robot. Breathing rapidly, she swallowed hard before pushing herself to sit up.

"Wh...what...what are you g-going to do...do to me? Are you go-going to hurt me?" She asked shakily.

The robot's head jerked back a little before it grunted and turned slightly away, yet still watched her as it slowly lowered itself to its knee above her. "No. Harming humans is against my orders. I'm not allowed to. I could, but I'd rather keep Optimus Prime's trust." It's shook its head as it gazed at her. "But I can see why you would think I would try and harm you. You were in the possession of Cyclonus and a few Sweeps, which surprises me that they're even here. More or less, without that infuriating Scourge. The Sweeps don't listen to Cyclonus very well without their master." It told her.

Anya's head started aching as she took in the little information, making her wince a little as she reached up to rub her forehead. "Sw-Sweeps? Cyclonus? Wh-what are they?" She asked, uneasily.

"Decepticons. They're pretty nasty pieces of work, but then again, so was I when I was apart of them." The giant robot remarked but then its fiery gaze narrowed a little onto her. "But you don't seem to know anything about what those are, do you?" He wasn't surprised when she timidly shook her head. Instead, he glanced away from her, almost thoughtfully. "An outside civilian. You're not even aware of the Autobot/Earth Alliance. This isn't good. If the Decepticons are after humans who don't have a clue about us, what are they planning?" He asked, mostly thinking out loud to himself.

A feeling of dread washed over Anya as she thought about it herself. She had a feeling she knew what those...Deceptions or whatever this guy called those robots were after her. She had told them, or at least Agent Domovoi about what she knew. They could have wanted to keep her quiet and not warn the Americans about them. But what about this one? It seemed all right. It had saved her from nearly becoming a 1000 foot drop splatter on the face of the earth. She was lucky enough to only have a dislocated shoulder and a possible concussion. She knew very well that she should have had a lot more than that. She should have been dead. But this thing...this giant alien robot had saved her life. Her arm was killing her though and her head was throbbing. She knew very well that she needed to see a doctor soon or she could collapse from shock.

The robot seemed to have sensed her discomfort because it was looking at her again, seeing her wincing a little. "You need to be repaired. I would do it for you but I'm afraid I'm not much of a medic. I should take you to find Ratchet but I believe that crash we both had might have knocked out my radar system and scrambled my communications. I need to repair them to be able to find him."

"Rat...Ratchet?" Anya asked shakily, trembling as she tried to climb to her knees. "What..."

There was a light chuckle as the giant robot looked down at her. "The Autobot medical officer. He's studied the human anatomy and so he knows all of the functions and even the skeletal system of a human. But unfortunately, he's not even in this part of Earth. He's on the other side, millions of miles away from where we are." It lowered itself a little closer, which only caused Anya to gasp and draw back away. "Easy, Sparkling. If I wanted to harm you, I would have just let you fall from the sky and be destroyed by the impact of the ground. Perhaps, maybe I should transform. Would that help you settle your nerves a little?"

Anya stared up at him in surprise but she slowly shook her head. "Wh...what are you?" She asked, holding her breath and waiting for something bad to happen. She wasn't sure if she should have asked it that or if she would even get an answer. But she wanted to know what it was.

The giant robot tilted its head before chuckling softly as it pulled back, sitting down on its metal heel. "I am an autonomous robotic organism from a Planet called Cybertron. A Cybertronian, an alien, I suppose you can say. My designation: Jetfire."

"Des-designation?" Anya asked, squinting her eyes in confusion. "You mean your name?"

The giant alien robot only nodded as it rested its elbow against its knee, still looking down at her. "Affirmative. In the way Earthlings would introduce their selves, my name is Jetfire. I am apart of the Autobot Fraction fighting against the Decepticons." It turned its head and looked at one of its wings before there was a slink!

It had struck out one of its wings, making Anya jump a little but she saw that it was just trying to show a symbol on the wings. Her eyes grew wide seeing the robotic head insignia on the wings. It was violent purple against the black and it looked like there were sharp spikes on either side of its head. "That insignia..." She murmured.

"It is the symbol of a Decepticon, which I am no longer apart of." Jetfire explained turning its burning red eyes onto her. "The Decepticons are Cybertronians who are lead by Megatron, an evil and ruthless Cybertronian who wishes to destroy every planet's inhabitance and rule the planets they conquer. Including Earth. They wish to destroy humans so that they can rule your planet and even absorb your Energon, harvesting it to take back to our planet, Cybertron."

Anya's eyes grew wider by the minute as she listened to Jetfire. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. So far, she heard him telling that giant alien robots called Decepticons had came to Earth to destroy it. Just like she thought. "And...and the Au-Autobots? Wh-what do they wa-want?"

"You do not need to fear, Sparkling." Jetfire told her, trying to be soothing as its sharp red eyes dimmed a little. "The Autobots have come to Earth to protect it and its young species. I, who used to be a Decepticon, fight along with them. I am not here to hurt you or any of your people. I know you cannot trust what I say but I assure you. I speak true." It then slowly lowered a giant hand towards her, holding out a finger feet away from her. "I swear on the name of Primus, the First One and the Creator of our kind. And that is an oath that all Cybertronians take seriously. Even the Decepticons. Come, let me help you stand." It told her.

Uneasily, Anya stared at the giant finger, nervously. She wasn't sure if she could trust it. But so far, it had spoken to her in a soothing voice and seemed friendly enough. It didn't seem to want to hurt her, or it could have done that already. It had plenty of chances. So with a trembling hand, she reached out and placed her unhurt hand onto the offered giant finger and pulled herself up. She bit back a scream of pain because of her dislocated shoulder but only winced.

"Careful." Jetfire told her gently before helping her up. Then it kept its hand close to her, as if trying to tell her to sit down on its palm. "We need to get you to a medical facility. Climb on."

Of course, Anya looked at him with worry. "You're going...you're going to carry me?" She asked, uneasily.

"It's faster this way, Sparkling. The sooner we get you to a medical officer, the better for your arm. I can sense your pain through my sensory units and I can tell that it is, how you would say, killing you." Jetfire said, lightly, trying to joke with her.

Anya couldn't help but smile and laugh weakly but she took a deep breath and sat down onto the offered hand, pulling herself to the center of its palm. She had to suck in a lot of air when Jetfire lift her up and it stood but it did very slowly so not to startle her. Her heart was thumping hard against her ribcage when she found herself now eighteen feet up in the air, but she felt a wave of awe roll over her at the sight surrounding them. She could see almost everything from Jetfire's palm. Turning her still anxious eyes onto the giant robot's face, she bit her lip. "You're..." She held her breath when Jetfire turned its sharp red gaze onto her. "You're...a...guy, right? A male? I can't really tell." She said, wincing. She was sure that would offend the robot.

But instead, Jetfire chuckled and bobbed its head into a nod. "I am of the male sex. If I were a femme, you would be able to tell. I'm sure you don't want to continue being called a Sparkling. So what is your designation?" He asked.

The young teen made a face at the word femme. It didn't take too much to know that Jetfire meant a female. But she had to wonder what in the world was a Sparkling? "My name is Anya Karpos. Anastasia Karpos, actually. But I prefer being called Anya." She then hesitated, thinking about what Jetfire kept calling her. "What's...what's a Sparkling?"

Jetfire started walking towards the East, his footsteps leaving light booms but it didn't bother Anya anymore than before. But keeping his optics forward, he shook his head. "A Sparkling is what we call young ones. Children." He looked at her when she made a scoffing sound and was looking somewhat offended. He knew why though and it made him chuckle. "You may not be exactly a child of your human species, but considered to the Cybertronians, you are a child. Our species can live a million years, maybe even billions or even eternity. Myself, I am an Ancient of our kind. I have lived for nearly nine billion years." He informed her.

Anya's jaw dropped in astonishment. "You're that old?!" She gasped. She was answered with a chuckle from the giant robot.

After a while of walking and having a small conversation, Jetfire finally stopped in the thick of the bamboo trees before carefully lowering Anya down to the ground, gently putting her down. He stayed down on one knee though, looking off towards a small city they had came across. His optics were narrowed a little in thought, as if he was scanning the entire area for anything bad but then he seemed satisfied for he turned his optics onto Anya, who was holding her dislocated arm. "The medical facility is on this side of the human city. I do not sense any Sweeps there but I know they are close. I think I will try and hunt for them and destroy them to make sure they do not harm this city. You should just go to the facility and get looked at by a medical officer. If you wish to return to me, just return here. I will be here. If not, then this will be our farewells. Just be careful, Sparkling and keep a look out for anyone suspicious. I fear that the Sweeps may still be after you."

Anya felt herself shiver to think about that. She didn't really want any more to do with the alien robots other than just getting to the Americans and warning them about what happened with her father. She still hadn't told Jetfire why she was with the fake agents and Agent Domovoi, which she was pretty sure was a real agent. He had tried to protect her from the aliens on the jet. But with a nod, she turned and started towards the city, hesitating a little to look over at Jetfire. He was still watching her, which made her only a little nervous but...in a way, she felt relieved.

"Go, Anya. Go be repaired." Jetfire told her, nodding towards the city.

Smiling faintly, Anya went on towards the city to get some medical attention. She felt somewhat grateful to having met this giant robot. She had been pretty scared of him at first, thinking he was the kind that would hurt her but, it seemed that not all of the robots were terrible as she had seen from the Mission City video clips. She wondered if the others were like him at all. She really hoped so. She felt a certain trust going towards him, yet she was still a little uneasy about him. It was probably the fact that he was an alien robot. She found the hospital all right. All she had to do was walk up to someone, who was clearly Chinese.

Judging by the people in the city, she had to be in China, somewhere. She wasn't even sure what part but it was clear that the so called Decepticon jet with the "Sweeps" had been taking her west from Russia. That had only made her frown and think about why they were going that direction. The fastest way of getting into the Americas was taking the east route.

It was to Anya's greatest satisfaction that there was an Asian who spoke English in the medical facility. So she didn't have to make herself look strange before the doctors and nurses in the entire building. She didn't know why she didn't tell the exact truth to the doctor, but she explained to him that she had actually fallen out of a tree and that was how she dislocated her shoulder and hurt her head. The doctor probably knew that she was lying but he didn't push her. He just examined her before telling her to brace herself and then he popped her shoulder back into place.

Of course, she couldn't have helped but screamed in pain, managing to muffle it at least a little.

Then while she was waiting for the doctor to return after telling her he was going to prescribe some pain killers to her, she just sat there on the table, moving her sore arm a little to get rid of any kinks. She winced only a few times but it did feel so much better than before.

Still waiting, Anya decided to check her laptop now. She needed to find out if it was okay and none of the information had been damaged. She had to make sure that the video clips and even what her father had sent her were all right. They were the only pieces of information she had to warn the Americans about the giant robot that could be threatening her father. She wondered if she should trust Jetfire with this information. There was a possibility he could help her. But she wasn't entirely sure if he could be trusted. She had only met him and he could be using her to get the information. Much like what those "Sweeps" had tried to do with her.

Turning on her laptop and waiting for it to load, Anya glanced around to see if the doctor had come back yet. So far, he hadn't. She frowned, wondering what was taking him so long.

But with a shrug, her attention was on the laptop when it was finally up and running. She immediately began looking it over for any damages. So far, she found only a few scrapes and dents on the outside. It didn't look terrible. But her indefinite worry was the fact that some of the programs on it were a little sketchy. The screen had lost some color but it wasn't too bad. She pulled up the robot video clips and checked them. She had only lost one but the others were fine.

Now for the information her father sent her.

Pulling up the video clip her father had sent to her computer, Anya prayed that it hadn't been damaged. She really hoped that it hadn't. It was this information that would probably save him. She was in for a minor disappointment.

The imagery of the symbol her father had taken from the Typhoon had been damaged and it was difficult to see it. It was really snowy and there were black and white dots jumping up every where on the screen. She could barely see the symbol at all. That made her swear loudly, causing a Chinese nurse passing by look at her with a weird look. She tried to smile at her though to get out of it. She was only glad that the nurse just went on before she turned her attention back onto her laptop. She played it to see how bad it was and was sorely disappointed on the imagery. The sound, however, was okay. There were some blurred parts but she could hear every word that her father was saying. So that was some relief.

Now for the signal her father had sent to her.

Anya pulled it up, yet turned down the volume. She knew it would probably freak out the staff if they heard it. Once it was low enough, she played it. She listened to the metallic screeches and clicks with a frown. It sounded like it was all in order.

It was right at that moment the doctor returned. However, something did seem different about him. He looked more serious than before. He had been smiling when he left and looking friendly. But now, he didn't look so friendly. His face was stone like and he had one arm hidden behind his back, as if he was hiding something. In truth, his stature scared Anya a little. He had the same look the fake agents when they had picked her up at the airport.

Un-nerved, Anya quickly put her laptop on standby and shoved it into her bag before standing up and moving back a few steps away from the doctor, giving him an uneasy look. She stared at him for a moment as he entered the room and stopped in the middle of the room, staring blankly at her. Letting out a shaky breath, Anya hugged her bag close to her. "What did you do to the human doctor?" She asked the Sweep. She knew very well that the doctor before hadn't been a Sweep. He couldn't have. He had been kind and gentle to her. Especially with her injured arm.

"The human medic is no longer your concern." the Sweep spoke blankly before pulling out his hidden arm from behind him. It had startled the young Russian girl to see that it was a transformation of a strange alien weapon molding into the human form's arm. "You're only concern is that if I offline you or not. If you do not wish to be offlined, you will come with me. Try and escape like you did before, I will destroy you. You comply, you live. Do we have an understanding?"

Shaking a little, Anya just nodded as she hugged her bag tighter to her, trying to seek comfort from it. It wasn't working. "Ye-yes." She said shakily. The Sweep then jerked his alien weapon towards the door, motioning her to start walking. Terrified, yet slowly, Anya started moving.

It was right at that moment, someone appeared in the door way. And not just anyone. Agent Domovoi.

Seeing him surprised, Anya halted in her foot steps and stared at him with shock. She had really thought he had died on the jet. More or less, had thought he'd been crushed. She also felt uneasy that he was even here with that blank look on his face as he entered the room. In a way, she truly believed that he was one of the Sweeps. After all, he had gone to the airport with them to capture her. How could he not be one of them? But then she took a good look at him. While the Sweep's human form didn't look beat up after the fight with Jetfire, and she was sure that they didn't bruise or bleed, Domovoi Korbács was. He had a nice sized bruise sporting on his right cheek where the Sweep had hit him on the jet and he did have some blood staining his white shirt, which his uniform was very well ruffled up. He was limping a little but he ignored it as he pulled out his gun and aimed it right at the Sweep doctor.

There was a loud crack as the gun went off followed but another and another and another.

Anya screamed as she drowned down to her knees, waiting to get hit by a stray bullet. But instead, she heard loud clinks as the bullets almost ricocheted off of the robot, which it dropped its human look. The doctor's skin just faded away like before on the jet. The robot itself whirled around angrily now aiming the alien weapon at Domovoi. But that was went two bullets from Domovoi's gun hit the robot's optics, smashing them. The alien robot let out horrible screech as it slammed its metallic arm over its now damaged eyes. It was moving back as far as it could away from the attacking human before it tripped over its metal feet, crashing to the ground.

"Anya! Come on! It's probably alerting the other robots!" Domovoi exclaimed as he rushed forward and grabbed Anya's hand. He quickly pulled her up to her feet and started running from the room. He kept a tight hold on her wrist, pulling her after him and shoving past people.

Anya cried out in alarm as she was pulled but she ran with him. She wasn't going to stop for nothing. "What happened to you on the jet?! I thought you were dead!" She yelled as she ran.

Domovoi Korbács shook his head as he shoved past a pair of doctors, being yelled at by them. He ignored them of course but just kept pulling Anya after him. "One of the robots! I fell just like you did but one of them caught me right out of the air! It believed it could use me to get to you! Thought I would lead it right to you!" he yelled over his shoulder to her.

Suddenly there was an explosion, causing both of them to yell in surprise and come to a halt just as the walls were nearly blown in. Both fell to the ground, covering their heads while people began screaming and yelling in shock and fear. Anya rose her head with Domovoi, her eyes wide with fear as she watched several Sweeps step out from the smoke and dust, surrounding them both. She felt as if her body was turning into ice. Domovoi, however, wrapped an arm protectively around her and aimed his gun. "Yo-you don't have enough ammo!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! But I will use it up to make sure they don't hurt you!" The Russian agent yelled back as he glared around at the Sweeps.

"Surrender, humans, or prepare to perish!" One of the Sweeps snarled at them, aiming its weapon at them.

Shaking her head, Anya knew they were in a very tight spot. She felt as if all hope for her and Domovoi was lost. She knew very well that they were now the alien robot's prisoners. She looked at Domovoi, who was glaring at the robot who spoke. His grip certainly tightened around her. "Dom-Domovoi!" She stammered weakly.

Swearing in Russian, Domovoi shook his head as he carefully stood up and dropped his gun. "We don't have a choice, Anya. Looks like they won this round." He told her, helping her stand. Again, Anya shook her head as she looked fearfully around at the Sweeps. She didn't want this to be over. She didn't want to be the prisoner of these things. She knew that the Sweeps were very bad and they might as well just kill the two when they weren't useful to them. She prayed that somehow they would be saved.

Her prayer was answered.

Before any of the Sweeps could move to capture them, their optics flashed and their bodies jerked around as if they heard something coming. One of them even began shouting at the others, just as the roof of the hospital was ripped off. Anya and Domovoi exclaimed in surprise as they covered their heads to protect them from any falling debris. There was a loud explosion and something hot whizzed right by them, as well as a loud crunch. Both Russians looked up with alarm only to see a giant red and black robot begin smashing and blasting Sweeps left and right.

Anya's heart began to speed up with joy as her face also lit up to see Jetfire. She felt so happy to see him, more happier than she had to when he first saved her. She knew that he must have heard the explosions or even picked up the Sweeps' signatures in the city and came running to her defense. She never felt so happier to see the giant robot. "Jetfire!" She said brightly as she watched the large red and black Transformer destroy the now attacking Sweeps.

Jetfire didn't respond to her but continued to blast the Sweeps right out of existence. He whirled around in a circle when a few transformed into small model planes and started to attack him but he had no trouble with them at all. In truth, he looked like a large gorilla swiping at the planes to Anya. The Sweeps, however, were attacking him at once, and it was proving to be a little difficult for even the large Transformer to defend himself. More or less, the two humans when four Sweeps dropped down beside Anya and Domovoi, now raising their weapons to fire on them.

"Jetfire!" Anya screamed in fear.

The large robot turned sharply before swinging his large fist over the Sweeps and bringing it down on top of them with a loud crunch. After crushing them, he reached out for Anya and Domovoi. "Climb 'board! We're getting' out of here!" He roared.

Anya nodded and quickly started forward, only to stop when Domovoi pulled her back, shoving her behind him to protect her. She would have felt touched for his over protectiveness if it wasn't calling for it. But instead, she latched onto his arm and pulled him towards Jetfire's metal hand. "It's okay, Domovoi! He's good! He's nice! Come on! Or we will die!" She yelled at him, now tugging on him.

Of course, the Russian agent pulled on her right back, trying to keep her away from the robot. "It's dangerous, Anya! Stay away from it!"

"He's fine!" Anya yelled right back before yelping when Jetfire decided to take matters into his own hands. he had had to swipe at a bunch Sweeps firing on him and buzzing around him like mosquitoes before having enough of it. He quickly wrapped his hands around both humans, causing them to cry out in alarm as he lift them up and began to run. He thundered away from the hospital, causing quite the panic in the streets as he destroyed the streets from under him. He kept Anya and Domovoi close to his chest, using his back to shelter them from the Sweeps' fire.

The Sweeps, of course, gave chase and it didn't help at all as the Falcon 2000 jet came diving out of no where, transforming into the Decepticon. It let out a nasty screeching roar before trying to blast Jetfire. The blast hit the Transformer in the back, causing him to spin on his feet. Anya screamed in his grip, covering her eyes so that she didn't watch the world spinning. Domovoi was yelling in Russian at the robot, demanding him to put them down but of course, Jetfire ignored them as he quickly placed the angry and definitely feeling sick agent into his other hand with Anya before spinning around and transforming his other arm into a very large cannon. One that he hadn't used before.

There was a thunderous boom as Jetfire fired and a hot red blast exploded out of the cannon, speeding across the street towards the Falcon 2000 robot. The blast caught it right in the face, sending it whirling on its own feet and crashing down heavily on the road. There had been a lot of screams from some people as they ran away from the entire scene.

But either way, it gave Jetfire the time he needed. He turned sharply, clicking loudly as he began his transformation. His body first changed before a latch on top of the Blackbird jet popped open and he quickly placed the two humans inside. Anya and Domovoi hit the metal floor inside of Jetfire pretty hard, though, ending up falling onto their knees or onto their sides. They could only exclaim in surprise before they nearly began to slide when the Blackbird blasted off the ground, into the sky. Jetfire circled only once to fire upon the Sweeps and the Falcon 2000 to get their attention before turning sharply and flying away from the Chinese City. He made a sharp round about to make sure they were following and when he saw that they were, he hit it full throttle, leaving them in the clouds.

Inside, Anya and Domovoi looked around with wide eyes at the interior of the Blackbird, seeing only steel black and silver walls and black control panels. They saw flashing lights on the panels but they didn't pay too much attention to that.

Instead, Anya stood up and hurried towards the front with a shouting in protest Domovoi right behind her. They both ran through Jetfire to his cockpit and looked at the pilotless seats with uneasy. It was pretty un-nerving to see the jet flying itself as it was flying at a very high speed through the clouds. She moved shakily forward, pausing when Domovoi grabbed her shoulder, shaking his head. But she gave him a light smile and shook her head right back at him before looking at the pilot seat. "J-Jetfire?"

"Are you all right, Anya?" Came the Transformer's voice through the radio system.

Hearing it, made her and Domovoi jump a little but she felt more relieved to hear it than he did. Sighing with some relief, she moved a foot closer, looking at the radio. "Tha-Thank you. You saved my life again." She said, somewhat emotionally.

There was a light hum as an answer. Domovoi, however, glared at the radio system, not looking happy at all about being rescued by a giant alien robot. He was even a little suspicious of the thing. And not one being to hold back his expressions very much, he stepped forward, placing a hand in front of Anya to draw her back out of the cockpit before he moved forward. "Alien robot. I am Agent Domovoi Korbács of the Russian Secret Service Government! I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I am not going to let you hurt, Miss Karpos! Do you understand me?! You will drop your altitude and you will release us or...!" He was ordering.

"Can it." growled the robot's radio. "I'm under orders by Optimus Prime to not harm humans. So I won't harm Anya. But I won't say the same for you. I heard a little of what you said back there as I was rushing to the hospital to save Anya, but I don't believe you for a second of what you said about the Sweeps taking you prisoner." Before he said anything else, there was a sharp metallic click before metal from the walls lashed out and grabbed Domovoi, yanking him against the wall with a loud metal thud.

Anya screamed and started forward but a seatbelt from one of the seats lashed out and wrapped around her wrist, holding her back. "Jetfire!" She cried, uneasily.

Domovoi swore in Russian, his eyes full of anger but he mostly kept up trying to yank his arms free from their metal binds. "Release me, alien! I will see you destroyed...!" he was yelling but he cut off when the jet gave a light jerk, making his head hit the wall behind him.

"Anya, sit down, if you will and buckle up. You will be safer that way. As for you, 'Domovoi Korbács', shut the frag up. I won't harm her or you. You protected her from the Sweeps but I still don't believe your story. Sweeps don't use prisoners to capture another. They aren't smart enough to do that on their own. And I know they don't listen too well to Cyclonus. That means if they were using you to get to Anya, they were getting orders from their Master. Problem is, I don't sense Scourge anywhere, even though he is a tough one to locate. So you are either lying or being manipulated. I am not taking that chance. We are going to Optimus Prime and the Autobots right now! I'm going to let Ratchet take a look at you. He's better at figuring things out than I am. I'm more like Ironhide. I shoot first, ask questions later." Jetfire remarked before the seatbelt around Anya's wrist dropped away. "Anya, please sit down. You must be tired and you need to recharge." 

Swallowing hard, Anya glanced meekly at an angry Domovoi before she carefully lowered herself into the Assistant pilot's chair, buckling herself in. She watched Domovoi though, feeling as if her heart was shivering with her. She didn't know what was going on and who to trust. But until then, she was just going to do what Jetfire asked. "Je-Jetfire? Where are...where are we going?" She asked, nervously.

"To find the Autobots. I can't pinpoint their exact location so I don't know where they're at. I can only send out a signal, hoping that it will be them who pick it up. Let's hope that it will be the Autobots. Because if the Decepticons pick up my signal, then we're fragged. That scuffle with Cyclonus has damaged me a little and I need repairs. But it's nothing too serious. Not serious enough though. Just keep your fingers crossed, Anya. As soon as we find Prime and the Autobots, you will be safe." 

"How do we know you're not lying?!" demanded Domovoi.

There was a silence in the cockpit for a long moment and it made even Anya a little uneasy that Jetfire was taking so long to answering. She didn't like it when someone hesitated before answering a question. It was a sign of them having to think of a good answer. And the good answer might have not been what she wanted to hear. But so far, Jetfire had been protecting her, as had Domovoi Korbács so she had to try and trust them.

Finally, the jet let out a low sigh as the jet slowed down just a little, now diving downward out of the clouds, showing a spectacular view of the earth below. "You're just going to have to trust me. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. I am not the Decepticon I used to be, all due to Optimus Prime. He's the one who changed my mind on which side to fight for in the first place. And he's the one who issued the Autobot order to protect Earth and its inhabitance. Once you get to the Autobots, you will be safe, Anya. And that is my word of Primus." 

Anya stared at the radio for a moment before her face softened and her lips curved upward. She didn't know why but she felt truth behind Jetfire's words. She certainly felt a little safe around him so she nodded to give him that acknowledgement. "And that's an unbroken vow. Even for Decepticons." She said, remembering what he said.

Jetfire chuckled. "That's right. Now, get some rest. You need it." He remarked before the sky began to darken as night was starting to settle in the direction they were heading.


	10. Honesty

After the top secret branch of Sector Seven had been shut down, the U.S Government had given Optimus Prime and the Autobots permission to use the Hoover Dam as their base of Operations for now, just until they found a bigger and better place for them. They knew very well that the base was big enough for at least fifteen Autobots to be moving around, which luckily there were only nine at the moment. The new relocation of the Autobot Base, however, was being considered to becoming the Grand Canyon. They knew very well that they needed to go somewhere really big, because of the sizes of the Autobots. Optimus had informed that he was the largest Autobot so far, but there were some that were nearly as big as he was and there was quite a few Autobots that might show up sooner or later.

So the Government had decided on the Grand Canyon. True, it was a place where there were a lot of tourists. But it was the largest place so far that they could decide on.

It had been nearly a four hours since the Autobots had captured Spitfire and taken her to the base, where Ratchet immediately began working on her to repair some of the damages that had been caused by Starscream and Shockwave. Not to mention, he was trying to figure out what exactly Starscream had placed in her chest plate. Of course, he wasn't going to be working on her alone. Optimus, himself decided to stand off to the side and watch as Ratchet repaired Spitfire.

As for Sam and his friends, as well as Trent and Elena, they all had been taken to the Autobot Base with the Autobots. Even Ron and Judy had been collected and taken to the base while the Government immediately began to reconstruct their house. The Witwicky's, however, were not in a very good mood. This was the second time that their house had to be repaired and the garden had been reconstructed. Nor was the fact that their hard work for the BBQ had been destroyed because of a couple of Decepticons decided to pick a fight. Judy was definitely all set and ready to find the two Decepticons that destroyed her house. Of course, Ron finally talked her into giving Lennox the gun she had picked up and stopped her from leaving the base to go hunt down Starscream and Shockwave herself. Ironhide, the Twins and even Hot Rod admired her for that.

After nearly six hours of waiting for the results on Spitfire, and the humans had been given some new clothes, Elena especially, Ratchet and Optimus the doors open to Ratchet's lab. Everyone looked at them and saw that Spitfire was still sitting on the table where she had been examined by the medicbot. She looked rather tired but mostly there was a look of shame on her face. And judging by the look on Optimus' face, she had told him why she had betrayed the Autobots.

"Optimus?" Sam asked, looking up at the tall Autobot Leader, along with everyone.

All eyes were flickering back and forth from Optimus to Spitfire and even to Ratchet, who looked rather grave. But he wasn't going to say anything. Instead, he shook his head as he turned around waved to Spitfire to join them. Spitfire, of course, looked away from him for a long time. She didn't even move, nor looked like she was going to. But after a long moment and Optimus actually saying her name in a gentle, quiet way, which surprised everyone, she let out a long sigh before standing up and making her way out of Ratchet's lab. She kept her eyes to the ground until she realized that Bumblebee was standing right in front of her. She looked sharply up before stepping back and turning her gaze away from him again. She couldn't even look at him.

Letting out a low sigh, Optimus looked around at everyone, even at the humans. But he only shook his head as he motioned to Spitfire. "Spitfire, I think our comrades have a right to know what happened at the time of your betrayal. So why don't you just inform them?" He asked, quietly.

Again, Spitfire sighed before turning slightly away so that she didn't have to look at Bumblebee. She kept her optics adverted from everyone. For a long moment, she didn't say anything but stare at the wall. But finally, she lift her eyes and looked at everyone but Bumblebee. "I was captured by Megatron before my betrayal. As everyone recalls, there was a battle before the attack and my betrayal. We were fighting the Decepticons and a lot of us were being destroyed or heavily damaged. I was fighting beside Bumblebee, as I usually do." Her optics narrowed a little thoughtfully. "There was an explosion, if you all recall. That explosion knocked me off into a crevice and that was how Bee and I were separated. And that's why I went missing. When I came out of stasis, I found myself prisoner of the Decepticons. It had been Thundercracker who actually captured me." Her optics flickered over to Optimus, who only nodded for her to go on. She hesitated but then looked around at the others, more determined. "The Decepticons began to torture me to find the location of the Autobot Base. I refused."

Hot Rod scoffed at that, making a few glance at him. Optimus Prime actually shot him a warning look and shook his head at him to keep silent.

"I did, Hot Rod. I refused to tell them. That's why this thing," Spitfire said, stonily as she slapped her chest plate. "This invention of Starscream's is in me. It's a machine that he created that allows it to absorb Energon from my very own system." Her words made quite a few of the Autobots stiffen. "Fortunately, it only does it when I'm taking the heat, much like what happened today, fighting Starscream and Shockwave. It mostly just wears me out. That doesn't sound too bad but trust me it is. When it starts draining my Energon, it's a painful process. The device also is controlled willingly by Starscream. He can turn it off and on whenever he wants and that's how he controls me. However, even with the device, I refused to betray all of you." She kept a very determined look about her as she looked around at everyone then her head lowered. "For nearly 7 hours I was tortured and beaten by the Decepticons and Starscream's device. I still refused. Megatron, as you know, was starting to lose his patience and even wanted to destroy me after my refusal. But one of the Decepticons with them suggested they tried something else.

"They threatened Bumblebee. Apparently, some of the Decepticons had been observing our battles. Watching everyone closely we fought them. The Decepticon that convinced Megatron to threaten Bee to get me to cooperate had seen how close we were. He knew that threatening Bee was the only to get me to betray you. So Megatron clearly stated that they would destroy him if I didn't do as they told me to." Spitfire explained but shook her head as she merely glanced at Bumblebee, noting the surprise he had before looking away again. "At first, I refused, telling them that there was no way that they could do that to Bee. Bumblebee could outsmart most of the Decepticons, with exception of a few."

"But?" Lennox asked, looking up at her with a frown. He, like all of the humans listening, didn't like it one bit.

Spitfire glanced down at the humans, almost surprised to see them there. She had forgotten about them. But shaking her head, she decided to ignore them and look around at the Autobots. "But then Starscream offered to have the Seekers to attack the Autobots and try to capture Bee. He was actually looking forward to putting one of these things," She growled slapping her chest plate again. "In him. Because of how painful it was to me, I couldn't bear to think of what kind of pain Bumblebee would be in if he had it attached to him." She lowered her head, keeping her optics adverted away from everyone now. "...I couldn't let Bee go through that. So I told them I would give them Optimus Prime and the Autobots. But under one condition." Her optics closed before she looked directly at Bumblebee with almost pain. "They had to let me and Bumblebee go."

No one spoke for a very long time as they stared at her. No one could think of anything to say. Not even any of the humans. Sam and Mikaela both glanced over at Elena, who's face was turned away with a grim look. Judging by that look, they realized that she already knew what Spitfire had done and why.

"That doesn't explain why you just didn't warn us about it. We could have prevented anyone from being destroyed." Hot Rod said, showing no sympathy at all for her though.

Spitfire shook her head as eh glanced at him, an almost hard look in her optics as she looked at him. "Because before it happened, when I tried to draw Bumblebee away from the base before they attacked, Megatron had an Energon Blast Cannon trained right on Bumblebee's head. He was going to blast his head right off his metal shoulders if I didn't do it." She said darkly, surprising them. "I didn't want to do it, Hot Rod. I did not want to betray any one of my comrades. What I did cost the life of Elita One, who was more than kind to me. She was my sister in combat, as she was everyone's. I didn't want Red Alert to die. Or even Kup. I have been killing myself for what I did all of these years." She shook her head, looking rather deadly at the glaring electric blue Cybertronian. "I hate myself for what happened to them. I swore to Primus that I would do anything I could to pay for the sins I've committed. I even risked my exposure to you to try and break into the Sector Seven to save Bumblebee when they captured him."

Again, everyone looked surprised, even Bumblebee.

Spitfire nodded again as she turned away. "I picked up the transmission of Optimus Prime's arrival with everyone and I did every thing to stay hidden from you. I even talked Elena into going on a road trip, moving as far away from all of you so that you didn't pick up my signal. But..." She paused, shaking her head. "I picked up the transmission about Bumblebee getting caught and that was it. I wasn't going to run when he was in trouble, even though of what I did."

Elena nodded as she looked around at everyone even at Sam and Mikaela and Trent. "I remember that. We were heading out towards Montana when she picked it up. I didn't know what happened, of course, but she slammed on her brakes and asked me to stay at a hotel for her return. She was really frantic when it happened." She told them.

"So you were there?" Ironhide asked, narrowing one eye.

Spitfire looked over at him but nodded as she let her optics flicker over to Bumblebee before quickly tearing them away from him and looking directly at Optimus. "I was. I would have broken into the Hoover Dam, myself. But by the time I got here, Starscream was already there, wrecking havoc and he was the one I wanted to avoid the most. If he even picked up a hint that I was around, he would have turned on the device and captured me. I have something that..." She hesitated now. "I have something that Megatron needs."

"And what is that?" Sunstreaker asked, sounding just as suspicious as Hot Rod was looking.

Again, the female hesitated but she then looked over at Optimus and Ratchet, who didn't look too surprised. So obviously she had told them while being worked on. Optimus shook his head as he looked around at the other Autobots. "The device that Starscream created is not only what keeps Spitfire in line for their uses, its a mechanism that seems to jump starts a spark. It's almost as if she's carrying two Sparks. With it, the Decepticons can revive Megatron. All it takes is stealing his body and repairing before using the device." The Leader explained. He nodded when everyone looked extremely alarmed. "So that's why Starscream and Shockwave were trying to capture Spitfire. It's also connected to an Energon defuser. We don't know too much about it, but we do know that if Ratchet even gets too close to prying it out of her, it will activate and give us a warning to explode."

"You mean its a bomb." Epps said, now very un-nerved as was everyone.

Optimus and Ratchet both nodded, while the other Autobots looked uneasy. They were even starting to back up a little from Spitfire. "However," The medicbot began. "It's a tricky piece. It only activates under two situations, as far as I can tell. One, if trifled with, it will activate and if continued to be meddled with, it will explode. Two, which Spitfire has actually explained, if she comes too close to being destroyed or deactivated, it will go off. She has told us that Starscream explained to her that if it goes off, it will obliterate anything within a hundred mile radius."

Alarmed, the humans even backed away from Spitfire, looking very uneasy. Elena was the only one who didn't move away but moved forward to stand right next to her Guardian. She was not going to let her friend be alone in this. She would stand by her no matter what. She had to yank her arm free when Trent tried to grab her and draw her back away. Giving him a serious frown, she folded her arms and stood right at Spitfire's feet as she looked up at Optimus. "That means you can't kill her, can you? Not that you should. I really mean it. She's not your enemy. Even with me, she's always beaten herself up for what she did on Cybertron." She told him.

Hot Rod, however, made a sharp snort as he folded his arms and gave Spitfire a look of distrust. He, like the others, didn't like the idea of having Spitfire around. But unlike the others, he voiced his opinion. "And why should we believe you, Spitfire? It could be some kind of scheme you're pulling on us so that you can stab us in the back again." He said with distain.

"Hot Rod." Optimus breathed, looking at him wearily.

Hot Rod merely glanced at him but shook his head. "Forgive me, Optimus Prime, sir. But I have to have this out and said." He turned his optics back onto Spitfire, giving her a dark look. "I will not trust you nor will I ever fight along side you if there's every a time. What you did to us, I will never, ever forgive. I understand why you would want to protect BB, over there. He's one of the one mechs that I would want fighting along side me. But the fact is, a lot of our closest comrades were killed because you. Elita One, Kup, Red Alert. I kept the list going on but it's too long. It is not fair to Optimus or Arcee! Or Ratchet or any one of us!" He snapped.

Spitfire sighed wearily but shook her head as she looked right at him. "Hot Rod, this is about the one time that we ended up fighting one another, isn't it?"

"No, it's not. This is about you betraying us and it costing the lives of a lot of our comrades! But since you mentioned it, why not bring it out? I didn't actually report you and Ol' Screamer jumping me to Prime." Hot Rod said sharply.

"No, but Jetfire did." Optimus said, loudly interrupting the young mech before he could have it out. He just looked sternly at him. He didn't want this getting too out of hand right now. They had too many things to worry about right at the moment. "Hot Rod, I'm very aware of what happened between you and Spitfire. And as far as I'm concerned, Jetfire did alert me that Spitfire was hesitant to fighting you. I never realized why until now. And I know very well that it was mostly Starscream that was making the blows until Jetfire came to help you." He then looked over at Spitfire, frowning. "Spitfire, I have to agree with Hot Rod. We can't trust you. You have done us a lot of harm in the past. But, as you know, we don't deactivate our prisoners. So you will just have to be under our watch for now." He turned and glanced around at the rest of the Autobots, looking each and every one over for a moment. But after a moment, he shook his head and looked at Ratchet. "Ratchet, I think it's best if you keep your eye on her."

Ratchet didn't really seem too happy to hear that though. "Optimus, I really don't know think I have the time." He looked blankly at the twins then over at Ironhide. "There's no telling when Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are going to make trouble with Ironhide and when Ironhide decides to blast them to stasis." He told the Autobot leader.

Smiling, Optimus just shook his head as he glanced at a pair of grinning twin brothers. He knew that the medicbot had a point at that bit. "Well, you're the only one who will have patience with her. The others," he paused, again looking around at the other Autobots. "Well, honestly, she'll be safer around you." He finished.

"Oh, come on, Prime. I won't hurt her." Ironhide said grinning almost wickedly before raising both arms and activated his cannons, training them on Spitfire. It only came as a small surprise that she didn't look afraid. She actually rolled her optics and folded her arms across her chest plate, looking impatient. Even the twins looked a little devious, while both Hot Rod and Arcee looked as if they wanted nothing more than to just destroy her right then and there. "I'll just use her as target for practice."

Shaking his head, Optimus looked back at Ratchet, almost looking as if he was raising an eyebrow and smiling. Ratchet rolled his optics and then waved towards his lab. "All right. All right. I see your point. Spitfire," The medic said dryly, now making his way back in his. Sighing, Spitfire shook her head as she followed him into his lab. She however, paused for only a minute to look over her shoulder at Bumblebee, meeting his deep blue optics. They watched one another for a moment before they tore their gaze away from one another. Bumblebee turned to look at Optimus, looking as if he wanted to say something.

However, Optimus already knew what it was he wanted to say. He let out a low sigh before shaking his head at him. "Bumblebee, I think it best if you stayed away from Spitfire for now. As I said, I do not trust her with any of us. You, especially. If she is still working with Decepticons and is trying to deceive us, we all know it will be you she's going to try and use." He remarked.

With whirling sigh, Bumblebee looked away before looking at Ironhide when he clapped a hand onto his shoulder, shaking his head. "He's right, Bee. I mean no harm, but you would be the first one to trust that Pitspawn." He told him.

Bee slouched, looking like he was pouting a little.

Shaking his head, Optimus looked down at the humans, his optics pausing over Trent and Elena. He stared at them for a few seconds before looking at Lennox with his wife and daughter then at Epps and his injured wife. "Captain, Sergeant, I think it best if your families should get some rest. You know where the barracks are." He told them. Lennox let out a long sigh but nodded as he wrapped an arm around Sarah and started to lead her away. Epps also agreed as he let Monique lean against him for support. He was already grateful that a medic had already taken care of her leg and had given her painkillers. So all she had to do was get some rest to recuperate.

"What about my parents?" Sam asked, glancing over at Ron and Judy, who looked pretty weary as well. But not as bad as they should have been. "And Trent and Elena."

Optimus didn't answer right off as he looked down at Trent and Elena, who had been very quiet while they were sorting most of the situation out. At least, the young sports player had been. In fact, he hadn't said a word since they even arrived to the Autobot base. And judging by the look on his face, he was still mulling things over inside his head, trying to adjust himself to what position he was in now. In fact, a few times, Trent had cringed away from the Autobots, almost afraid of them. So he didn't really trust them just yet. Not that Optimus could blame him.

Carefully and slowly, the Autobot leader lowered himself to his knee, closer to the group of humans. He hesitated when Trent stepped back, looking pretty nervous and it was only then did everyone see how anxious he looked. Scoffing a little and smiling slyly, Elena folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, come on, Trent. Don't tell me you're still afraid of them?" She remarked, almost teasingly.

Trent shot her a look before looking back up at Optimus nervously. He could shake his head as he took another step back. "I'm not afraid of them." He denied immediately.

"Oh, yeah?" Sideswipe asked, grinning before jerking his entire frame forward, but not exactly moving a step forward. It was more like he was just trying to scare him. Problem was, it worked. Trent jumped back, his face going pale and he looked afraid. He almost stumbled over his own feet. "Heh, he's in denial." The blade bearing Autobot said as he nudged a smirking Sunstreaker.

It had been a little funny to Sam and he eventually cracked a smile and even Mikaela and Elena threatened to. But it was then they saw the serious look on Ron and Judy's faces. They obviously hadn't liked Sideswipe's little tease very much. And neither did Hot Rod or Optimus. They were both actually giving the twins a warning look. And it wasn't a very pleasant thing to see. Only once had Sam and Mikaela seen that look on Optimus Prime's face and it had been the time when Reginald Simmons and the other agents of Sector Seven had tried to take Sam, his family and Mikaela into custody just so they could find out about them. The look on Optimus Prime's face when he ripped the S7 car in half and demanded Simmons to get out of the car had been scary. And now, he was wearing that very same look.

"Sideswipe." Optimus said in a very stern tone.

Hearing that tone, Sideswipe's smile was gone and he was cringing back a little. He knew that he was in trouble. "I'm sorry." He said quickly. Even Sunstreaker grimaced with a little guilt for picking on Trent.

Sighing and shaking his head, Optimus turned his optics back onto Trent, he was still trying to calm himself down with the little scare from Sideswipe. The Autobot leader let out another sigh as he looked right at the young jock. "Trenton DeMarco, I believe Sam has already explained our situation and has told you why we have come to your planet, has he not?" He asked, in a gentle tone.

Trent nodded, swallowing hard. "Uh...ye-yeah. He said that you guys came to Earth looking for some kind of cube thing. And that you're here to protect us from the Deceptors or whatever they're called." He remarked not even being able to hide the fact that he was nervous.

Some of the Autobots let out a few snorts of amusement but Optimus nodded. "The Decepticons is what you mean. And yes. We came to Earth to look for the All Spark, which is what gave our race life. With its power, we were able to more of our kind and flourish as your planet has. But it also can create vast armies if used for destruction. It is what the Decepticons wanted before it was destroyed." He then motioned towards Sam. "In fact, it was Sam who saved everyone by destroying the Cube, inserting it into the Decepticon's leader's chest, Megatron's chest. Doing so, the raw power of the All Spark destroyed Megatron's spark."

"But...but I thought that...um, Spitfire said that she can revive Megatron." Trent said, uneasily.

Nodding Optimus glanced over at the medic bay's doors where Spitfire was. He didn't look particular happy with that bit of news but he knew it couldn't be helped. "Yes. I cannot explain it in the way that you would understand. Cybertronian intelligence and science can be very difficult to understand for those who don't know much about it." He then turned his optics back onto the young human, shaking his head. "But a spark chamber can be repaired and there is a chance that one can be revived if the spark was jump started again. We must make sure that never happens. For if Megatron is revived, I fear the results."

No one liked the sound of that.

"You have a lot more to fear than just Megatron being revived, Prime." came an irritatingly familiar voice. It was one that Sam, Mikaela or any of the Autobots that knew it wanted to hear. Eventually when everyone turned their heads to look in the direction of their voice, the two teens, two of the Autobots (namely Bumblebee and Ironhide) and even Sam's parents groaned in disgust.

For it was Reginald Simmons, the former agent of the Sector Seven, which was disbanded. With him, was the former Head of Sector Seven, Tom Banachek. He was carrying the usual silver suitcase that usually had the information about the autonomous robotic visitors. In truth, Sector Seven really didn't exist anymore after the President of the United States had it shut down. But unlike almost all of the other agents and scientists who worked in S7 that had been given a high compensation for their silence that put them in early retirement, both Banachek and Agent Simmons were just too valuable to just retire. So they were mostly just reassigned to something else.

In a way, Banachek and Simmons were in charge of being ambassadors, or baby sitters for the Autobots as Sam always pointed out. Their job was to interact with the Autobots, passing information or messages to them directly from Secretary of Defense, John Kellar or the President.

Simmons still called himself an S7 agent, even if he really wasn't.

The upside of seeing the two was the pair who was following right after them. It had been a very long time since Sam or Mikaela had even seen Maggie Madsen and Glenn Whitmann. Since the battle at the Hoover Dam between them, the SD and even Simmons, himself against the small but very dangerous Decepticon, Frenzy, the two had been given a high paying job as Senior Analysts for the U.S. Government. Maggie and Glenn were even working with Ratchet now and then, learning the Cybertronian language and how to encrypt them. Glenn was doing a whole lot better at the Cyber language than the pretty Aussie analyst was though. He knew several full sentences now in the language. Though, now and then he would mess up that would cause either the Autobots to laugh at him or just stare at him as if he was completely stupid. He even almost got shot by Ironhide for messing up a sentence, which had Ratchet roaring with laughter for hours. It was due to the fact that Glenn had been trying to ask Ironhide, "It's such a nice day, don't you think?" only to accidentally have said, "Your aft is huge today, and you stink."

Never in Glenn's life had he ran so fast when Ironhide tried to blast him or run him over. Maggie spent nearly two hours laughing as she swore she would never forget the day that Glenn actually managed to run without tripping over his own feet, more or less, faster than usual.

"Dude, Sam, Mikaela! How's it going?!" Glenn asked, grinning brightly as he raised a hand and waved it cheerfully at them.

Both smiled and waved at him and Maggie in return. They were glad to see the two again. They were an amusing pair when they were together. And it was worth watching the blonde white girl beat up on the big black guy whenever he pissed her off. However, seeing Simmons and Banachek, the two teens were not as pleased. They hadn't forgotten so easily of what an asshole Simmons truly was. They remembered what they and S7 had tried to do Bumblebee.

Though, Sam was secretly wishing that Lennox and Epps hadn't taken off with their families just yet. He and Mikaela remembered very well that Simmons was intimidated by the two. Ever since when Will Lennox threatened to shoot Simmons in the chest a year ago just because he was refusing to take Sam to Bumblebee, the former agent did all he could to avoid the pair. It went the same with Ironhide, who already started growling at the sight of Simmons. The Weapons Specialist still had not forgiven the measly human agents for torturing Bee like they had. And if he could, he wouldn't hesitate to stepping on Simmons. And if Ironhide was pissed at Simmons and S7, it actually made Sam and Mikaela wonder what Spitfire's reaction would be towards them.

"Simmons! What the hell are you doing here?!" came Epps voice, and everyone looked to see the pair of soldiers making their way back into the medic area. "I thought Sector Seven was disbanded! Doesn't that mean you're supposed to be somewhere else?!"

Obviously, Spitfire heard that because she came back out of Ratchet's medic room with the medicbot trailing quickly behind. And judging by the look on her face, she had heard what Epps said. Her white-blue optics were narrowed as she looked down at the new humans, who had noticed her immediately.

Of course, Maggie and Glenn hadn't been expected to see a female Cybertronian. They hadn't even known about Arcee yet. They had been warned about some of the new Autobots, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker above all. In truth, the two had been very curious about the twins and wanted to see them for their selves. So they did some staring up at the twins, who were looking right back at them. But finally noticing the two females, the two analysts' jaws fell.

"Holy mother...! You guys have giant robot girls?!" Glenn cried out in alarm.

Several optics, mostly Arcee's and Spitfire's had rolled. They had been expecting that remark though. Ratchet and Optimus both just chuckled at the surprise before shaking their heads. "Yes, Glenn Anderson. We have females among our kind like most species do." The medicbot informed them. "And if your next question is anything like Sergeant Epps' was before, yes. Our kind does mate. Though I'm not entirely sure if you...!"

"Okay, you're putting images in my head, dude! Knock it off!" Glenn said grimacing before yelping when Maggie slapped him over the head. "Ow."

Simmons and Banachek, however, just looked up at the new Autobots, studying each and everyone one of them for a moment. Of course, when they noticed Spitfire glaring down at them, they stared back. "I'm guessing that that is the Cybertronian that was targeted by the Decepticons. So what's the big lady's story? Autobot or Decepticon?" Simmons asked, dully.

Spitfire gave a low threatening growl but shook her head. "I'm an Auto..." She was saying.

"She's an Autobot betrayer!" Hot Rod shot, giving Spitfire an icy look, which she shot right back at him.

Optimus sighed in frustration before silencing both of them with a look. He did not want a fight to break out between the two right now. Not in front of Simmons, who was still not convinced that the Autobots were not 100% good to hanging around humans. "That's enough, both of you." He immediately sternly.

Banachek and Simmons frowned before glancing at one another. They weren't really too sure what to make of that remark from the electric blue Autobot. "Prime," The former Head of S7 remarked, catching Optimus' look. "Good or bad?"

There was a short pause before Optimus shook his head, as he lift his head up a little higher before carefully lowering himself down to one knee so that the humans didn't have to crane their necks just to look at him. "Spitfire was once an Autobot but betrayed us to the Decepticons on our planet. But," he spared a glance over at the female, who had the look of shame on her face again as she adverted her optics away from everyone else. "She is not a Decepticon. She is not loyal to them in any way. At the moment, she is just under our supervision to determine whose side she is truly on." He told her.

Spitfire looked back at him, almost just as serious as he was. "I will never betray you again, Optimus Prime, sir." She said, sounding very sincere.

Of course, that didn't stop Hot Rod from letting out a sharp sound of disbelief.

Banachek and Simmons weren't convinced either. They just looked at Spitfire with suspicion before looking back at Optimus. "You just make sure she doesn't cause trouble, Prime. As if she hasn't already. HQ isn't too happy with what happened to the Tranquility Lake, or even with the Witwiticky house." The asshole of an agent grumbled.

Sam shot Simmons a look and shook his head. "It's Witwicky." He said, only to be surprised that Trent had said it too. The two teenagers glanced at one another before looking back at Simmons.

"Besides," Sideswipe remarked, not looking entirely happy that this squishy human was telling their boss what to do. And of course, Sunstreaker was masking his twin's very annoyed look. "What are you doing telling Optimus Prime what to do, human? If I didn't know any better, you're acting as if you're in charge of him or us for that matter."

Simmons shot the big silver mech a look before lifting his head higher and pointing a finger at him. "And what if I am, Tin man?"

"Tin man?!" Sides growled, now moving forward and with Sunstreaker.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, stand down." Optimus immediately told them while Ironhide and Arcee were already blocking their path.

Banachek, however, was giving Simmons the very same look that the Autobot Leader was giving his men. He did not want a fight between man and giant robot to break out. He knew very well which one would win and that would be the end of Simmons. But then it would be the end of the Autobot/Earth Alliance too. "Simmons, shut the hell up." He then looked back at Optimus. "Prime, I apologize. But Simmons does have a little bit of a point. The Tranquility lake was ripped up pretty bad because of that fight with the two Decepticons. Not to mention, the damage of the Witwicky house is going to take a lot of money to repair, though the lake is a lot more." He then glanced up at Spitfire, who was behaving well by keeping quiet. "It would serve us all well if we knew she's going to behave." He told the Autobot Leader.

Optimus just nodded in understanding. And he did understand why the two Government agents were a little edgy. They still didn't trust the Autobots and they were allies. So there would be not without a doubt that they wouldn't trust Spitfire. "Do not concern about Spitfire. We will keep her under control." He reassured the agents. "I suppose that's why you're here, correct? You were concerned about our new arrivals?"

Shaking his head, Banachek glanced over at Simmons who was looking a helluva lot serious again. They knew that this was the part that the Autobots weren't going to like. "No. I'm afraid we're here for a more serious reason. And it's not just because of the two outsiders." Simmons said, nodding to Trent and Elena, who both looked offended. "Big guy, we got a problem. A very serious problem. About a two hours ago, I got off the phone with the Secretary of Defense, John Kellar. He's under a lot of pressure because of some of the accusations of the Russians."

"What?" Lennox asked, looking just as confused as the others, but more alert. "What are they complaining about now?"

Banachek shook his head with a deep sigh. "Seems to me that the Russians lost a high powered nuclear submarine, the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon. One of six of the largest submarines in the world. And one of the most dangerous." He nodded when he watched all of the Autobots' eyes dimmed, which was a sign of them looking up the information on the web. And the reactions of the Autobots came as no surprise even if they were. "That's right. That. That sub that you guys are looking at right now on the net is what is missing. A couple of days ago, a young Russian girl called the Government and claimed that her father contacted her. She said that he claims that there is an alien robot aboard the Typhoon and its endangering the lives of the crew members."

"A Decepticon?" Sam asked, uneasily.

Banachek half shrugged and half nodded. "It must be. Unless Prime, here, can explain something that he forgot to tell us." He said looking back up at Optimus.

Some of the Autobots and the humans looked a little ruffled that Banachek would say it like that. It almost sounded like he was accusing Optimus Prime of stealing the nuclear sub. Some of the Autobots actually started growling as they glared down at the human, who immediately held up his hands in his own defense. But it was Optimus who held them back with his hand raised. "We have no need for a human weapon, even one as powerful as a nuclear submarine. And you already know that." He told the two agents.

"Well, either way, it's the Russians. They want their sub and because of the girl's accusations about a giant robot threatening her father on the submarine. They didn't believe her until their sub went missing. It just simply lost all contact with them and dropped right out of radar. It could be the fact that they dived to deep levels. But they don't want to believe it." Simmons began before shaking his head. "And what's worst, the Russians are blaming you."

"Blaming us?! Why?!" Hot Rod demanded angrily but kept his distance from the two.

The two agents merely glanced uneasily at the large blue Autobot but they both shook their heads. "Look, we hate this point out...but you guys are the alien robots here that can turn into any vehicle you guys scan. The sub is a vehicle in the water. And the Russians are a bit intimidated by you guys because they're used to be one of the most powerful nations because of their weapons programs and systems." Banachek explained, looking right into Optimus' eyes. "They are not used to you guys. Neither is any of the other Governments for that matter. They're all afraid of you. And it doesn't help the fact that the Russian girl that made the call in the first place has gone missing, herself. As far as we are concerned, she's got a lot of information on you guys. She knew about Mission City and swears that she saw the Autobots fighting the Decepticons."

Everyone frowned at that while glancing at one another. They didn't like that. "Who is this girl?" Lennox asked, glancing at Epps, who looked back.

Again, Banachek and Simmons glanced at one another before shaking their heads. It was Simmons who answered. He looked at Banachek, who was getting into the silver case and pulling out a file. After managing to pull the files out and they being handed to Simmons, the grumpy ass agent began looking into them. "Let's see. The girl is, obviously, Russian." That made a lot of Autobots and humans roll their eyes and optics in impatience. "Um, she's a student from the Saratov University studying Computer Sciences and Intelligence as well as Research. Any further digging that I did and I found that she's quite the hacker. Seems to me she's been dodging trouble every time she gets a little snoopy."

"And who is she?" Maggie asked, just as irritated at the delay of learning the girl's identity.

"Her name," Simmons began before sharply laughing as if he found something hilarious about her name. "Either she's a nearly hundred year old lost Russian Princess or her parents have a strange sense of humor, her name is Anastasia. Anastasia Karpos."

Maggie dropped her bag heavily as well as her jaw. There was a look of pure shock on her face and everyone saw it. "Anya?!" She gasped.

Simmons and Banachek frowned seriously as they glanced one another before looking back at her. His hand dropping with the file, Simmons tilted his head to the side. "Anastasia Karpos, goes by her nickname Anya because she's annoyed with her name. But, hey. If I were named after a princess who was said to be killed by my once loyal subjects, I would be too." He then narrowed his eyes. "You know her?"

Maggie didn't answer just yet. She just stared at the ground in shock before closing her eyes and shaking her head. Opening her eyes quickly, she gave the two agents a sharp look. "Where is she?! Is she hurt? What happened to her?!" She demanded.

"Okay, we're the ones asking the questions, Miss Aussie, not you. Do you know her?" Simmons asked in annoyance.

Banachek held up a hand to silence Simmons and another to Maggie when her eyes flashed dangerously at what the asshole just called her. He did not want the situation to get out of hand because of Simmons. "We don't know where she is, Miss Madsen. Secretary Kellar sent some of our men to Russian to retrieve her and find out what she meant about the submarine and to take the Karpos family into protective custody. If there is a Decepticon in Russia and it was Anya's father, Vladimir Karpos who contacted her with the information in the first place, there is a good chance they could go after the family to keep him quiet." He told her.

"Decepticons don't take prisoners unless it benefits them. I can't see what they would want with a whole family of squishies." Sunstreaker remarked dryly.

The humans looked up at him but then Banachek shook his head as he looked back at Maggie, who was still a little in panic mode. "Miss Madsen, we're doing all we can to locate Miss Karpos. She's got information on the Cybertronians and she can expose all of them if she chooses to. And if there is a robot controlling the Typhoon submarine, a Decepticon, it's more than likely she's in danger. I won't lie to you." He told her. "But do you know her?"

Of course, Maggie didn't want to hear the bit about Anya Karpos being in danger, but with a strained deep breath, she nodded as she looked away, trying to clear her mind. She had to think for a minute of what she could say. "Yeah. Anya and I met a few years ago at some convention in Houstan, Texas. She came all the way from Russian to attend it. We sort of became friends for a little while but since this whole thing with the Autobots and the Decepticons started, I was distracted and I didn't keep in contact with her." She shook her head, looking up to Optimus. "And I swear, she's a really sweet girl. She would never endanger anyone! She's afraid to wear capris and tank tops for heaven's sakes! She says its improper but I make her do it anyway. Please, Optimus. We have to find her. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she's safe. And when we find her, I'll make her understand about how serious it is to keep you guys quiet."

Optimus only frowned down at her, before glancing away from them. He stared away from everyone thoughtfully before standing up to his full height and looking around at all of the Autobots. It looked as if he was going to give an order and it seemed that way because every single one straightened up and put their full attention onto him. "Autobots, we have a serious problem. We must locate this girl before the Decepticons do." He lowered his optics onto Banachek. "If there is a Decepticon controlling the submarine, or more than likely IS the submarine, they will not want to be found out. And if this girl has information on it, they will try and keep her quiet. It is more than likely that the Decepticon is planning on attacking us when we have our attention on Starscream trying to get Spitfire." He lift his optics to the spoken Autobot. "It could have been a diversion that Starscream was trying to pull on us. Have our attention on him as he tries to capture Spitfire then have someone attack us from behind."

"It's something that Starscream would do." Ironhide growled, his cannons clicking menacingly.

"Exactly. We will search for this girl and find her before the Decepticons do. She will be a target for the Decepticons if they don't want her to report the submarine. She probably knows where to find the submarine..." Optimus was saying.

But it was right at that moment, a unknown soldier rushed into the room, looking as if there was a lion chasing after him. Either a lion or a Decepticon. He was rather pale and sweaty and there was fear in his eyes as he ran right over to Lennox and Epps. "Captain Lennox, sir!" He cried, catching all attention. "Ca-Captain!"

"What is it, soldier?" Lennox asked frowning seriously.

The soldier bent over for a second, gasping for breath before standing up straight and looking Lennox right in the eyes, looking terrified. "Sir, I think you better turn on the news." He told them. Lennox frowned before looking around at Epps then at Optimus.

Everyone filed into Ratchet's lab and approached his giant computer system in the corner where the medicbot switched on the computer to show the news. On the screen itself, it was showing a news report about an attack in China. The camera was showing a small city where buildings had been destroyed and there were fires every where. People were running and screaming or there trying to find injured people in the rubble. So far, on the screen it showed that there were at least a hundred people who were injured and at fifty dead.

The reporter making the broadcast was obviously not there but she was sure trying to look as if she was. She looked rightfully shaken though. So obviously, whatever her report was about startled her.

"...the damage is incredible. There are hundreds of people that are injured. Mostly of the injures were just from debris falling from the buildings but a lot of them were due to the people being in the buildings. There are at least a body count of fifty-seven people dead. We have it from a witness that the damages were caused but none other than two giant machines, robots fighting one another. Witnesses have reported that the two giant robots demolished a hospital and several buildings while trying to destroy each other. There are some witnesses though who said that one of the robots destroyed hospital taking two human hostages. We have no information on the identity of the two taken but we have received information that one of them, a young girl had arrived at the hospital to have injuries taken care of." The reporter shook her head. "As far as we understand, she had arrived with a dislocated shoulder and a concussion. She claimed to one of the nurses that she had fell out of a tree but the doctor that had treated her didn't believe her. A nurse has reported that he was making calls to finding out what really happened and to identify the girl. However, it has been reported that the doctor had been in fact killed before the Robot raids. A nurse claims that she watched a machine actually walk up to the doctor and shoot him. Then the robot took the form of the doctor." 

"That sounds like a Pretender." Arcee spoke up, sounding serious.

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other, both quite shaken just like Trent was. Even Elena was very shaken. This was something out of a horror movie, only in real life. A disaster that only a Decepticon could be in charge of. "A Pretender?" Trent asked.

Optimus, who was quite serious enough, just nodded. "Pretenders can take the forms of biological organisms. In this case, humans. They make their selves appear to be human so they can deceive their enemies. We have a few Pretenders of our own but most of the Pretenders are on the Decepticons' side. And most of them are called Sweeps."

"Which means, Scourge must be here." Ironhide growled and he was joined by the twins. "And if he's here, then that's not good. Because Cyclonus is usually right behind him."

"Who are they?" Sam asked, looking un-nerved.

Ratchet shook his head with an exhale from his exhaustion pipes. "A pair of Decepticons who are dangerous enough on their own. But together, they are a disaster waiting to happen." He then pointed at the screen just as it showed an image taken from someone, trying to show everyone what the robots looked like. He was pointing at a violent purple jet that just transformed and was attacking a black and red Cybertronian. Though the black and red one was very blurry. It had been moving too fast for the picture to clear up. "And looks like I'm right. That's Cyclonus."

Sideswipe groaned shaking his head. "Cyclone-brain is on Earth. That's not good." He remarked.

"Knowing the Decepticons, he's obviously dangerous. But exactly what is his threat level?" Banachek asked, looking up at Optimus.

Optimus, still looking very serious, just let out a low sigh and folded his arms as he continued to watch the news. He knew that this was going to be an even more serious problem. "Very high. Cyclonus is not the brightest Decepticon but he's very strong. And he has the temper that nearly matches Megatron's. If something doesn't go his way, he tends to destroy anything in his path. So we're going to need to find him immediately and deactivate him."

"And what about this Scourge guy?" Epps asked, frowning.

Some of the Autobots actually grimaced, though no one actually noticed Spitfire's reaction. She was actually staring at the screen with horror and moving back a few steps. She obviously knew about Cyclonus and Scourge and she did not like it. "Scourge is the brainy one out of the two." Ratchet explained to the humans. "He's highly intelligent and very good at deceiving enemies. He's actually the Head of the Pretenders. They follow his orders. So he must have been there too. Because if I remember right, the Sweeps don't listen to Cyclonus very well. But there is going to be a problem finding out where he is." He shook his head. "Scourge is like a Spy Changer, difficult to locate, nearly impossible to know if he's right there next to you until its too late."

"What about the other one? The black and red one? Decepticon? Autobot?" Banachek asked.

Optimus shook his head as he tried to study the blurry form. "I'm not sure." He looked at Ratchet. "Ratchet, copy the image and try to clear it up so we can see who it is." He told him.

Ratchet shook his head as he looked squarely at the Autobot Leader. "You know that's going to take a while to do, Optimus. Besides, I'm a medic. I know only so much about technology, even our own. We will need Hound or Wheeljack if we want this image cleared up immediately." He explained.

"Who's closer?" Ironhide grumbled. "The country bumpkin or the walking explosive."

"Thankfully, the country bumpkin." Ratchet said chuckling before already working on his computer. He began typing something, looking at the Cybertronian letters flashing on the screen. And of course, Glenn looked very interested seeing them since he was the one learning them in the first place. "Hmm. I'll send out a message to him to see how far away from...oh!"

Something flashed on the screen, which made everyone frown as they watched the flashing continue. "What is it?" Trent asked, glancing at Elena, who looked back.

Ratchet just chuckled before straightening and looking at Optimus. "Optimus, I think we should prepare for Hound's arrival. It seems he's monitoring the Earth's surface as we speak, more or less, our own base. So he's aware of the situation. He's already approaching the atmosphere as we speak. He should be arriving within two hours." He told them. "Of course, he's reported that he's being accompanied by two others. I believe," He chuckled looking almost wickedly at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "I don't think Sideswipe and Sunstreaker isn't going to like this one too much."

As if that was the que, both twins groaned in unison, already guessing who he was talking about. "Awww! No! Not Mirage!" They both exclaimed. "We'll take anyone but him!"

Of course, everyone laughed at their reactions.

But one not laughing at all was Spitfire. She had not stopped staring at the image of Cyclonus, having the look of dread on her face. She was only glad that no one really noticed. She knew that the arrival of Cyclonus or the Sweeps were not a good one. If they were there, it would only be a matter of time before HE showed up. And if he arrived on Earth, everyone was doomed.


	11. No Humor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actually, there's plenty of it. lol.

It had taken Sam a very long time to talk his parents into letting him go with the Autobots to meet the two new arrivals. The very minute he told them that he was going with them, late in the evening, Ron and Judy Witwicky put up a fight about how late it was getting for leaving the base. And it didn't help at all when they started fussing over Mikaela, Trent or even Elena going out either. Mikaela didn't mind it as much. But Trent and Elena stared dryly at the older couple with dry humor.

They weren't used to having someone fuss over them at all.

It was after Sam said that Trent and Elena had never seen the Earth falls before and Optimus swearing an oath to protect the teenagers, himself that changed their minds. They definitely felt a lot better to know that the Autobot Leader would personally protect the kids. And of course, The Witwicky couple had set up a curfew, which had Sam silently swearing that he must have been adopted. Trent would have laughed at Sam and made fun of him if he wasn't under the same curfew, which definitely had him nearly regretting ever meeting Ron and Judy. Elena and Mikaela, however, giggled a little together about how cute it was to see the two guys so flustered and embarrassed.

Almost all of Autobots were going out of the base, nearly a mile away from the dam to greet Hound and Mirage. Even Spitfire had gone out with the Autobots, yet under the watchful eyes of Ratchet and Ironhide. It was due to the fact that the medicbot had to be with the welcoming committee so that he could run scans on Hound and Mirage for any possible injuries they might get in the landing.

However, before they left the base to the landing spot, Ratchet had deactivated Spitfire's weapons system and had attached two electro magnetic bands around her wrists and ankles. In the case of her deciding to try and betray them again or attack for no apparent reason, Ratchet would activate the bands, which would immediately send out a signal to the bands and cause them to attract the bands together. In other words, they were almost like handcuffs and shackles that would immediately bind her arms together as well as her feet to keep her from moving.

Though, it was not Spitfire's intentions to cause any trouble at all. She had already sworn that she would not betray Optimus again and she meant it. The other Autobots just didn't believe her.

While waiting out under the night sky for the arrival of Hound and Mirage, Spitfire had caught Bumblebee watching her from the far side of the group. She knew very well that he wasn't allowed to be near her, and she didn't mind. She didn't really want him near her as it was. But it didn't stop form looking at her. She met his optics a few times and would end up staring right back before sharply tearing her gaze away from him. It didn't go un-noticed at all. Everyone had noticed the tension between the once best friends. And in a way, it bothered Sam.

"You going to be okay?"

Sam tore his eyes away from staring at Bumblebee and Spitfire, looking at Trent, who was standing next to him. In truth, it had surprised him that his rival was even near him, more or less talking to him without any taunting or cruelty. And it definitely surprised him that Trent was actually sounding a little concerned. "Huh?" He asked, frowning.

Trent's eyes flickered past Sam to Spitfire and Bumblebee, noting that the two were staring at one another again in misery. He nodded upward at them, as he looked back at Sam. "Those two. It's crazy, huh? Once best friends, but something blew up and now they kind of hate each other." He gave a low snort of laughter. "It's kind of crazy." He said, running his hand through his blonde hair.

Sam had to nod as he glanced back at Bee and Spitfire again, looking a little strained. "Yeah. Crazy. Tell you the truth, I don't know why he never told me about her before."

"Sam," Mikaela spoke up quietly, after hearing a little of what her boyfriend and her Ex-boyfriend had been saying to each other. She looked just as strained and she was a little. She was very worried about Bumblebee, actually. "Maybe Bee just didn't tell you because he didn't want you to worry. Or, it hurt him to even remember what happened. You heard Sides today." She moved her head closer to his and even a little closer to Trent so that he could hear too. "They were best friends. And they kind of had a thing for each other. For god's sake, they could have been together, like us if she hadn't betrayed..."

"I can hear you and I'm pretty sure Bumblebee can too." Spitfire ground out from where she was standing. And she sure sounded irritated.

Jumping a little and wincing, the teenagers turned and smiled meekly up at the Autobots, who were glancing down at them. Most of the Autobots were smirking or chuckling, while Hot Rod was definitely not one of them. He was actually glaring over at Spitfire but kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry." Mikaela said, laughing a little, though weakly.

Spitfire just looked away, not bothering to look at Bumblebee any more. In fact, she was keeping her gaze adverted from anyone now. There was almost a stony look on her face, as if she was annoyed that the human teenagers were even talking about her and Bumblebee's past life.

However, both Maggie and Glenn were a little confused so they moved over to where Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena were standing, glancing uneasily between Spitfire and Bumblebee before turning their attention onto the teens. "Okay. I'm a little confused. What were you talking about that pissed her off?" The pudgy black hacker asked.

Sam just let out a sigh and shook his head. "Short story, Bumblebee and Spitfire used to be best friends before she betrayed the Autobots for the Deceptions, unwillingly. Seems like that Megatron threatened Bee to get her to do it. And because of her betrayal, a lot of Autobots died." He murmured to them.

Both hackers winced and looked pitifully up at the Autobots, Spitfire especially. "Oh. That's so sad. If she didn't have a choice, I don't see why everyone's so tense. I bet she feels terrible for doing it." Maggie spoke quietly.

Elena nodded, her eyes looking sadly up at her Guardian. She was obviously feeling the same pressure for Spitfire as the Ex-Valkyrie did herself. "Believe me, she does. Since I've even known her, she's always been a little quiet when it came to her past. But when she told me everything, I heard how terrible she felt." She shook her head as she looked at the others, meeting Sam's eyes. "Spitfire told me that Cybertronians couldn't really cry like we do. But she does. I saw it every time she tried to tell me about her days with the Autobots..."

"Elena." Spitfire said almost warningly, making the young teen's head snap right up and looked a little uneasy. The femme wasn't looking at her but there was a stony look on her face. She didn't speak again though but she didn't have to.

"Okay, we need to do something about this tense moment right now." Glenn said, grimacing before looking over at the twins. "So, what's their story? Why don't they this Mirage guy?"

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, obviously, heard that because they both turned their optics onto Glenn, giving him and the human teens a very annoyed look. It was almost funny to see that look on their faces. "Trust me when I say this, dude." the Silver mech grumbled. "If you've met Mirage, you'd be feeling the very same way we do."

"The guy has no sense of humor. Literately." Sunstreaker remarked.

"Sounds like someone we just met." Epps chuckled, nudging Lennox, who was smirking.

Growling, Sunstreaker glared at him, knowing very well that he was talking about himself. It was true that Sunstreaker didn't have much of a sense of humor unless it was against someone else. "Want to find yourself glued to the ground, squishy? Because I've read on the World Wide Web that Gorilla glue works wonders." The yellow mech growled.

"You just try it, Sunspot. Let's see how pretty you look when I give you a new paint job." Epps shot right back, grinning. "How about hot pink? Talking about lovely."

That definitely spiked up Sunstreaker's temper, only a lot. Growling in a threating way, he started moving forward, his blaster gun now starting to glow. But Sideswipe, who had found Epps a little funny grabbed a hold of his twin's arm, trying not to laugh. Even some of other Autobots were smirking or laughing. Even Spitfire seemed to have found some amusement and was smirking, herself.

"Oh, come on, Bobby." Maggie spoke up, trying not to laugh, herself before looking up at Sunstreaker with a warm smile. "Don't take a piss with him. Besides, I think he looks fine yellow. He might not have a sunny personality, but I think he's rather lovely the way he is."

Sunstreaker merely glanced at her, looking slightly smug.

"Peh, please, Mags. Don't boost up his ego, as if it can go any higher." chuckled Ironhide, shaking his head. Sunstreaker shot him a dark look for his remark.

"Uh...why would Epps want to take a piss with Sunstreaker? He'd probably get lubricated on. " Sam asked, frowning. He, like Trent and Mikaela looked a little confused. And even Epps had raised an eyebrow at Maggie's remark.

Frowning impatiently and rolling her eyes, Maggie looked over at the teens, shaking her head. "I swear," She said dryly. "You guys really need to learn about multi-cultures. 'Taking a piss' does not mean peeing somewhere or on someone. It's British-Australian slang humor. It means to joke around."

"Oh." Sam, Trent and Epps said at the same time while everyone else just laughed silently.

"No, but seriously. What's wrong with the Mirage guy?" Lennox asked, still laughing a little about what was just said.

Optimus, chuckling, shook his head as he glanced over at the twins and even Hot Rod. He knew very well why they didn't like Mirage. It was a known fact between the Autobots that Mirage wasn't the cheeriest Cybertronians. "There is nothing wrong with Mirage. He's a fine officer and a brilliant warrior on the battlefield. It's just, well..." He stopped himself while chuckling at the memories.

"It's only the fact that since the twins tried to pull a prank on Mirage and it back fired right back at them, Mirage has taken the liberty of scaring the Pit out of them every time they see each other." Ratchet said chuckling, himself while looking smug himself because the twins were grimacing.

"Uh..." Sam muttered, somewhat stupidly.

"The slagging guy has no sense of humor! He's so fragging serious unless he's popping out of nowhere scaring the Pit out of us!" Sides exclaimed throwing his hands into the air.

"Boo." came a very low and eerie voice out of nowhere. And it was one that the humans were not familiar with at all.

So, naturally, everyone jumped, the girls screaming and latching onto a guy they were nearest to. Even the two teen boys and the two soldiers had to jump with shouts of surprise as they looked around with wide eyes to where the voice was coming from. The only ones who didn't look entirely startled was Optimus and Ratchet, who both thundering with laughter. So obviously, they weren't surprised.

It did not help at all when a large dark alien robot just flickered into view, seeming to melt right out of the very shadows as if he was a ghost. He was standing right behind the twins, who nearly jumped several feet off the ground and made the earth shudder violently under their large feet. They came close to stepping on the humans from trying to jump away from the sudden arrival of the Autobots. Of course, the humans showed up at them, yelling at them to watch it.

"Slag it, Mirage! Don't do that!" Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both exclaimed at the same time, glaring hatefully at the new Autobot.

"Whoa! Whoa! Where the hell did he come from?!" Epps yelled, still in shock like the others were.

Optimus and Ratchet were still roaring with laughter after the sudden appearance of their comrade. And even after a minute, Ironhide and Arcee had to join in, while watching the twins glare at Mirage. But after a long moment, they finally calmed down and gave the new arrival a welcoming nod. "Please, my friends, forgive us for not telling you. Mirage only arrived a moments ago and ahead of Hound so that he could greet the twins in his own way. He landed on the other side of the dam before coming down to us in his camo-shield, which is what makes him appear to be invisible to the naked eye. It's very difficult to see him even if he's right in front of you." The Autobot Leader informed them before clapping a hand over his faceplate and still looked amused. "I only had to respect his wishes." He told them.

"Slag it, sir! That's so not funny!" Sideswipe whined still glaring at Mirage.

It only brought up some more laughter from the other Autobots and even from the humans as they slowed down their own hearts. Now that they were calming down, it was kind of funny. Mirage just smirked at the twins, looking smug for sneaking up on them once again. "Just another warning to not try and pull any pranks on me, Sides and Sunny. Or kick Blaster off a cliff just like you did before departing from Cybertron to come to Earth to join Prime and our comrades."

"Sla-ag! This is about that little joke we pulled on Blaster?! Come on! It didn't hurt him! We knew that you'd catch him before he hit the ground!" Sides, once again, whined.

Mirage gave the silver mech a very dry smile before turning his hot blue optics onto Optimus, growing serious again. It scared the humans of how quick his mood had changed. So it was becoming clear of why the twins were so nervous about this Autobot in the first place. But what surprised them even more was when the new Autobot actually dropped down to one knee before Optimus and bowed his head in reverent respect of him. "Optimus Prime, sir." He spoke softly.

Letting out a light laugh, Optimus shook his head before motioning to Mirage to stand up. "Mirage, my old friend. How many times do I have to tell you not to bow down to me?" He asked, lightly.

"Only once more, sir." Mirage said, standing up and smiling at the Autobot Leader. Then he turned his optics upward to the sky when there came a low boom.

Everyone looked up at the sky just as there came a flash of light and they saw a large meteor falling out of the dark clouds above them. It came streaming across the sky towards the earth, yet several yards away from the group. It was obviously the other Autobot arrival. Everyone waited and watched as the Autobot fell heavily towards the ground before striking the earth and sending up nearly a ton of dirt and rocks into the air. Fire and smoke curled up towards the sky once it settled and then everyone began to move towards the landing sight. The Autobots didn't even have to transform to carry the humans. It was a decent walking distance to where the Autobot called Hound had landed.

They approached the large crater, just as the new Autobot climbed out. He seemed to have found something amusing because he was chuckling as he climbed out and then dusted himself off. He almost had the same build as Ratchet and was nearly the same size as him too. His optics, like all of the other Autobots, were bright glowing blue.

"Welcome to Earth, Hound. We're glad that you could join us." Optimus said, smiling at the new arrival.

The Autobot merely glanced up at the Autobot leader before running his metallic hand over his arm frame, leaving a metallic screech and causing a few of the humans to grimace at the sound. "Opps. Sorry." He muttered when he noticed. It surprised everyone that he was actually speaking with a Southern accent. He then looked around at everyone, hands on his waist. "Well, this sure is a grand ol' welcoming committee. I'm so glad ya'll came to welcome me." He then clicked his metallic fingers when he glanced at Bumblebee. "Oh, yeah. Got a special lil' gift for you, Bumblebee. Finally found the fraggin' thing at Tyger Pax and got it all repaired for ya." He reached into his chest plate, which made a click as a hidden compartment opened up from within then he pulled out a device. "Look what I found." He said in a singsong.

Bumblebee literately lit up. His eyes optics grew very bright and the headlights from his alter form flashed on brightly. He could've been grinning when he looked at the device in Hound's hand. That's when his radio kicked on, loud and clear.

"I'm so excited! I'm so delighted!" Then his radio repeated Elvis Presley's, "Thank you, thank you, thank you very much...You're nothing but a Hound dog!" 

Everyone laughed a little, even Spitfire had to smile to see his cheerful side again. Sam, smiling, glanced at Mikaela, Trent and Elena, who looked just as curious as he was. "What is that?" Mikaela was the one to ask.

Hound glanced down at her before lightly bouncing the device in his hand up and down. "This, my darling, is Bumblebee's voice processor. The one that Mega-breath crushed and ripped right out of Bee. Took me nearly forever to find it in Tyger Pax, literately. And nearly longer to even fix it. Bee," He said looking back at the young Autobot. "Do not go getting this ripped out again. It was nearly impossible to repair." He then tossed it over to Ratchet, who caught it easily. "And it's easy to put in when ya got Ol' Hatchet around."

"Hound! What did I tell you about calling me that?!" Ratchet demanded in annoyance as he was already moving towards the bouncing yellow and black mech.

"Wait a second." Mikaela said, frowning. "If that is Bee's voice processor and his only way to talk, then how is it that he's been able to talk? I mean, in Mission City, Bee talked before. He actually spoke up and then at the car rally when Sam was asking him about driving Spitfire."

"Darlin', the great thing about Cybertronian technology or any technology for that matter is on how many words you can just take right off the radio system and string them together to make you're own sentences." The new but obviously highly intelligent Autobot explained. "Bumblebee was only using a device of mine that takes words right off the web and making them into his own. He wasn't exactly speaking with his own voice but just from the device that I had given him before he took off from Cybertron to look for the All Spark. Thing is, he can't use it all of the time because it takes some Energon from him. Besides...wait...what?" Then he shut up as if something just hit him.

There was literately a dead silence the very minute Mikaela's words kicked in their processors and even mentioning Spitfire. Both Hound and Mirage looked very blank when they processed her words before they looked somewhat confused. "Spitfire?" The very serious Autobot asked before he turned his head and noticed Spitfire for the first time.

"Oh, Slag." Ironhide groaned, now growing tense.

For a moment, Mirage's optics flashed red when he saw the femme before he was shoving right past the twins, and charging at her. He moved too quick for anyone to actually acknowledge before there was a loud crash as he grabbed Spitfire around the neck and lift her up off the ground.

"Mirage!" Optimus shouted just as everyone jumped forward to stop him.

Spitfire had yelped sharply when Mirage attacked her but she did not move at all to stop him from trying to crush her vocals system. There had been a scream and it took a few seconds to realize that it was Elena as she tried to rush forward. But Trent and Sam both grabbed her and held her back as they looked at the scene with horror.

There were several shouts as they watched Mirage tighten his hold around Spitfire's neck. He looked rather vicious now that he had lost some senses. He didn't even acknowledge Bumblebee quickly grabbing his wrist trying to pry his hand loose from Spitfire's neck. Ironhide joined in to trying to pry open his hand and even tried to pull him back away from her. "Mirage! No! Let go!" He shouted.

"You!" Mirage hissed, angrily as he glared at Spitfire. "You murderous traitor! You Pitspawn from the deepest pit!"

"Mirage! Release Spitfire and stand down!" Optimus ordered, now grabbing the Autobot's shoulder and lightly pulling at him. He even had to use some of his authority as the Prime to make his officer stop from trying to kill Spitfire.

For a long moment, Mirage didn't move or act as if he even heard Optimus' order. He just glared hatefully at the femme bot that he was attempting to harm, looking at her with such ferociousness. But after a long moment, he gave a threatening hiss before throwing Spitfire to the ground. She collapsed before, gasping as if she really had been choked like a human would have been. She just laid sprawled on her side now rubbing at her throat and wincing as she tried to push herself up. She flinched a little when Ratchet quickly dropped down beside her and began running scans on her chest plate, obviously checking Starscream's device before looking at her neck.

"Oh, man. Spitfire's here?" Hound now asked, looking at the femme with alarm. "I didn't see her on my scanners." He looked up at Optimus who was now pulling Mirage away from Spitfire and trying to calm him down. "Sir, what is she doing here? I thought she was in the top ten most hated list."

Optimus let out a low sigh as he kept a hold of Mirage, making sure he moved farther away from Spitfire. He let his optics flicker over to her just as Bumblebee tried to help her up, but of course, she tried to pull away from him and put some distance between them. "There is a lot that needs to be explained, my friends. I should have warned you first, so please forgive me. But Spitfire is merely our prisoner and must not be harmed. We will explain the situation back at the base. But for now, you need to calm yourself, Mirage." He told him.

"Damn, that guy doesn't like Spitfire, does he?" Epps said, as soon as everyone started to calm down their selves. He, like everyone, was definitely a little un-nerved about how violent the Autobot, Mirage had just gotten.

"And with good reason, Epps." Ironhide grumbled as he stepped back letting Optimus take care of the glaring Autobot. "Like the twins said, Mirage is the most serious of the group. He doesn't take disobedience or betrayals very well. He will be the very last Cybertronian to ever forgive or forget. Besides, right before Spitfire betrayed us, Prime kind of told Mirage to try and follow her and Bumblebee's example because they were the only two who were trying to keep positive even after we lost so many comrades."

Everyone had to wince when they heard that. Lennox and Epps especially, already knowing what he meant. "Let me guess. Some did follow her example." The Sergeant said. And his answer came as a nod from the large black Autobot.

Mirage still glared dangerously at Spitfire as he watched Ratchet help her to her feet, not taking his optics off of her at all. Everyone knew they were going to have to watch him carefully now. Him and Hot Rod were definitely on the top of the list of the most likely to destroy Spitfire.

Spitfire stood up, still rubbing her throat but she glanced over at Mirage, not looking at him in any contempt but understand. She actually looked like she was going to forgive him for trying to crush her neck. Tearing her optics away, she looked at Optimus and then to Ratchet. "I think it'll be best if I return to the base, Optimus Prime, sir. I'll return to the holding block." She spoke softly before turning around and started walking back towards the base.

"Spitfire, wait for me." Elena said, now hurrying after her. She, however, paused to glare at Trent when he tried to hold her back. "Don't, Trent. She's my best friend and I trust her, even if you or anyone else doesn't." She then turned and hurried after Spitfire, who had stopped for a minute for her to catch up.

"Optimus Prime, sir. Are you sure its wise to let that traitor be near that human girl?" Mirage asked, his voice still rather hard as he glared after the red and black femme.

Optimus Prime watched Spitfire for a moment before nodding and looking at his officer. "Spitfire won't hurt Elena Lincoln. She has claimed Guardianship over her. And Guardians won't hurt their wards. Even if the ward annoys the Guardian a little. Their spark won't let them." He then looked around at everyone.

"Hey! What's that?" Glenn suddenly spoke, now pointing at Mirage.

Everyone frowned as they glanced at him then looked up at the serious Autobot, only to see that there was something clinging to his back from around his neck. For a moment, it looked almost like an animal but then everyone saw that it was made out of metal just like the Autobots. It was almost the size of a small baboon and even looked like a robotic ape. It had a pair of innocent blue eyes though as it looked down at the humans.

What was a little un-nerving was the fact that it did look somewhat like the Decepticon, Frenzy, only slightly bigger.

"What is that?" Maggie asked, now drawing back a little to stand behind Lennox. She did not want to deal with anything like Frenzy again.

Chuckling, Optimus moved closer to Mirage, who seemed to have a mood change. He almost looked like he was smirking as he turned his head around to look at the metallic ape peering over his shoulder at the others. The Autobot Leader, however, just nodded his greeting to the small robot. "Blaster, I'm not surprised to see you. You are always with Mirage." He said to the small Autobot.

Mikaela moved a little closer to get a better look at the small, new arrival before smilingly softly. She couldn't help but admire him. "Awww. He's kind of cute!" She said with admiration.

Maggie nodded with a bright smile as she also look at Blaster, who seemed to be beaming at them. She and everyone watched as the small Autobot climbed down from Mirage and landed soundlessly in front of the two ladies. To the humans, he was only waist high to them. He crouched a little just like a monkey and even had the same movement as one as he moved closer and offered a metallic hand to Mikaela and Maggie. The two ladies let out quiet giggles as they took his hands and shook them, greeting him. "Ah, he's so adorable." The pretty Aussie had to admit.

Chuckling, Optimus then looked around at everyone. "I believe we should properly introduce you to our newest arrivals. Mirage is my Stealth and Camo officer, one of my best spies." He told them, motioning to Mirage, who was amused by Blaster's new favor of the human females. But as soon as he was introduced, he snapped to attention and lift his head high like a true blue soldier.

"Camo...you mean camoflage." Epps said, now somewhat smiling as he looked up at the large room.

"In deed. Mirage's specialty is stealth operations. He can move close to an enemy without getting detected, which is what he uses to spook the twins. His partner is Blaster, who is our Communications Specialist. He can detect any organism that is approaching before any of us can. Even myself. He's also one of the best to detect aerial enemies. Hardly any aerial bots can get too close without alerting him. He won't work with any Autobot though, other than myself and Mirage. It's probably due to the fact that it was Mirage who found him. He was created by one of our enemies to use as hardware but Mirage rescued him during a terrible battle that actually caused the death of the former Prime, before myself." Optimus explained.

A few heads bowed a little as if they were respecting the former Prime. The twins were not one of them, and neither, which surprisingly, did Ironhide. The Weapons Specialist had actually made a low growl, making the humans glance at him. But the other Autobots didn't even look in his direction.

"My Research and Development officer," Optimus went on, motioning to Hound, who grinned around at everyone. "Hound. He's quite the scientist and inventor. He created most of the weapons systems and even the holographic images we use. He even created the molecular holographic image program, which allows us to take human form. More or less, let us scan the vehicles so that we can take form." He informed everyone.

Sam, Mikaela and Trent glanced at one another before having to smile and nod their approval. They had to admit it, meeting the master of the Autobot's human forms was kind of exciting. "Cool. That's what I'm kind of wondering." Sam said looking around the Autobots. "Exactly, how did you come up with how your human forms look like? Did you just find someone that you'd like to look like or what? Cause, I have to admit it. Arcee's human form kind of looked like Michelle Rodriguez."

"And she's hot." Trent remarked with a quirky smirk.

Arcee let out a light laugh as she placed her metallic hand onto her hip and shook her head and tossing her head as if flipping hair back. Of course, Hot Rod didn't look very amused by the young teen's remark and was giving him a dry look. "Well, I'll admit it when I scanned every single image of female humans on the web that I found your entertainment individual, Michelle Rodriquez fascinated me into taking a similar form."

"Heh," Hound chuckled shaking his head as he glanced around at all of the Autobots. "Picking a molecular human form for us is quite tricky. We each take the form of one who seems more like ourselves. Take Prime for one. He took the images of several different people from the Internet and threw them together to make his holo form what it is. It's all the same for all of us. We just make ourselves look how we want." He explained.

Slowly, everyone nodded as they took in the information. They couldn't believe it, but what Hound said had actually made sense. They had been expecting some complex explanation that would certainly nearly turn their brains inside out. But, no. He had actually put it into a way they could understand.

Ratchet finally cleared his throat as he turned to Bumblebee and nodded for him to follow him. "Well, I think it's time to get Bumblebee's voice processor reinserted and see if Hound actually fixed it." He said, smirking a little when came a shout of indignity.

"Hey! Why are you doubting my abilities, Ratch?! I'm not Wheeljack! I don't blow everything up! Is this because I called you Hatchet?! Don't be blaming me for that nickname!" Hound called after him, while everyone laughed. "It's the twins' faults for that! And your own for using your tools like hatchets when they piss you off!"

Sam snorted as he put his arm around Mikaela and started walking back with a smirking Trent, Maggie and Glenn right beside them. "You know, I think things just got a little more interesting." He told them. And they all had to nod in agreement.

Upon returning the base, everyone pretty much went back to what they were doing. Though, Hound was immediately assigned to helping Maggie and Glenn try and locate Anya Karpos. They were going to do all they could to find her and find out what she knew about the missing submarine. To even learn that the Typhoon submarine might be a Cybertronian was a little un-nerving and they weren't too sure it was good or bad. Ratchet had immediately started working on Bumblebee and reattaching his vocal processor, so Sam was a little on edge.

As far as everyone understood, Spitfire had returned to her holding room, along with Elena, which had Trent on the edge a little. He did not want her to be around her if she was a betrayer. He didn't trust Spitfire. So the first thing he did was head off to find out where Elena was. And because of that serious look on his face, Sam and Mikaela decided to follow after them, with Hot Rod and Arcee trailing behind.

They found Elena sitting in the holding room with Spitfire, both talking in low voices. But when the young teen spotted them, she smiled faintly and stood up, holding up a hand in greeting. "Hey. Back already?" She asked.

"Elena, let's go." Trent said darkly giving Spitfire a look before grabbing Elena's arm and trying to pull her out.

Startled but angry, Elena yanked away from him and gave him a sharp look. She had to jerk out of his reach when he reached for her again. "Get off, Trent! What is your problem?!" She demanded.

Trent looked at her just as sharply before pointing a finger at Spitfire, who watched blankly. It seemed she already knew about what Trent's problem was. "That is my problem, Elena! Did you not hear what that Prime guy said?! She betrayed them! As if I trust these giant robots as it is! I don't know if I can trust them! But I am helluva not trusting her if she betrayed them to the guys who tried to kill a lot of people!" He shot right back at her as he reached for her arm again.

Elena slapped his hand away, stepping back and giving him a dark look. She glanced at Sam and Mikaela as they hurried forward to stop the fight from breaking out between relatives. "Trent, we already told you. The Autobots can be trusted..." Mikaela was saying.

"Well I don't know that, Mikaela!" Trent shot at her, making Sam glare at him. He ignored the look he was getting from his rival though. "This is happening way too fast for me! This afternoon, I got shot at by a missile and I just found out that the car that I've been driving for about six weeks is a giant alien robot!" He nearly shouted.

From the corner of their eyes, they saw Hot Rod cringe a little, as if that was a blow to him. They also saw Arcee now glaring at the sports player, not liking the fact that he was ranting like this.

"Trent, Hot Rod saved your life! And I don't even recall that you even thanked him yet!" Mikaela said sharply, her arms folding across her chest. "He's new to us too! We don't know him but we sure as hell are not talking about him as if he's not right there."

"Well...you kind of are." Hot Rod said, laughing a little as he rubbed the back of his head. Mikaela grimaced but tried to smile apologetically to him. But he shrugged it away.

Still very annoyed, Trent shook his head as he looked over at Elena. "Okay, whatever! But the fact is, the so called good robots said that your car is a bad guy!" He glanced up at Spitfire when she started growling and giving him a menacing look. He tried to ignore her though, knowing that she couldn't do anything to him unless she wanted his own car to attack her right back. "I don't want you any where near her, Elena!" He said sharply.

Making a disgusted sound, Elena looked him over as if judging him before shaking her head as she looked into his eyes. "You can't tell me what to do, Trenton! You're not my boss!" She shouted at him, drawing quite the attention now from some soldiers, as well as Ironhide and Mirage as they were passing by. They came back to see what was going on. Even Optimus seemed to have heard the shouting and decided to come see what was happening.

"I am now, Eleanor! I am your cousin and I am older than you! And now it's my job to keep you out of trouble since you can't do that for yourself!" Trent shouted right back, now grabbing her hand.

Again, Elena yanked her hand free and gave him a dangerous look. "Trent! Stop bossing me around! You're not my father!" She spat.

"NO! I'm not! But I'm only trying to protect you, Elena!"

"I don't need your protection!"

"Oh yeah?! If you don't need protection, why do you keep getting in trouble?!" Trent snapped.

"Guys! Knock it off! You're making a scene!" Sam said, now trying to place himself between the two cousins as they glared heatedly at one another.

But both, Elena and Trent ignored him as they continued to glare at one another, not even seeming to notice that Sam was trying to block them from one another. They just continued their argument, not caring if they had an audience. "I stay out of trouble just fine, Trent! Unlike you! You can't stay out of trouble! You're always getting yelled at by Uncle Roger and always fighting with the so-called nerds! Maybe it's you that needs protection, Trent!" Elena shot at her cousin.

"Well, at least I have my father unlike you, you spoiled brat!" Trent snapped right back.

Everything went dead silent, other than Elena gasping sharply and looking as if Trent had slugged her right in the stomach. The entire base seemed to have heard their fight because it seemed to have gone very quiet. All eyes were on Trent and Elena, and quite wide. But not as wide as Elena's as she looked at Trent with shock, yet her eyes were starting to water as her chest heaved.

Even Trent looked a little stunned at what just came out of his mouth. He let out a frustrated sigh before trying to step around Sam to get closer to Elena. "Oh, shit. Elena, I'm sorry. I didn't..." He didn't get to finish.

With all the rage she felt, Elena swung her hand and slapped Trent hard across the face, too hard that he staggered to the side, bumping into Sam. Her hair had swung across her own face, trailing over her eyes but she did nothing to wipe them away. She just glared hatefully at Trent as tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over. "How dare you even bring that up, Trent, in front of everyone!" She hissed angrily. "Go ahead! Just tell them that my father is in a fucking coma because of me and my mother drank herself into one!" She snapped before turning sharply and running out of the room.

A few eyes and optics followed her but quickly turned back onto Trent, who had his eyes closed rather tightly as he held a hand against his cheek where Elena had slapped him. He stood, somewhat slouched over but then slowly straightened as he opened his eyes and looked at a very surprised Sam. They stared at one at one another for a minute before the jock turned and looked around at everyone that had heard, noting some very stunned looks. With a look of disgust for himself, he turned away and left the room in the other direction.

Sam almost went after Trent, to find out what Elena had meant but stopped when Hot Rod held up a hand and shook his head. The electric blue Autobot turned his optics onto Optimus, who was frowning thoughtfully. But after a moment, the Leader looked at the young Autobot and nodded. Hot Rod nodded right back as he turned and headed in the same direction Trent had gone. He, however, paused and turned back to look across the room at Sam. "Actually, Sam. Would you come with me? I don't think Trent entirely trusts me just yet. I think it would be better if you came with me." He told him.

Sam hesitated but nodded as he glanced over at Mikaela, who tried to smile but it wasn't easy at all for her. She just shrugged lightly and watched as he hurried after Hot Rod. She glanced up at Optimus. "What about Elena?" She asked, with a lot of concern. "We really shouldn't leave her by herself."

Optimus was quiet for a moment before he looked over at Spitfire, who looked rather forlorn. He knew very well that she wanted to go after her young ward but she was under orders to stay in her holding room. She was only trying to respect his wishes as well. For a moment, he studied her before looking back at Mikaela. "Mikaela, why don't you go with Spitfire to speak to Elena?" He told her.

Almost everyone looked surprised that he had said that. Especially Spitfire. She looked at the Autobot leader with wide optics, almost as if she couldn't believe that he was letting her go to Elena. She had been expecting him to just make her stay in the room.

"Optimus Prime, sir." Mirage said, glancing at Spitfire almost in disgust. "Are you serious to let her out? What if she tries to harm the human?" He ignored the dark look that Spitfire shot him.

Optimus shook his head as he met Mirage's optics before turning slightly towards Spitfire. He kept his eyes optics on his officer though. "Mirage, even if we do not like it, Spitfire has claimed guardianship over Elena Lincoln. We can not deny her duty to protect her ward. It is against the Spark bond regulations laid down by Primus, himself. We cannot interfer with spark pacts, if we trust one of the contenders or not." He told his officer.

Mirage just shook his head as he never looked away from Optimus' optics, still standing very stiff and soldier like. "It is not Elena Lincoln I'm concerned about. She has made her choice by standing by that traitor." He made a quick glance at Mikaela and it became very clear that it was her that he was concerned about.

A little touched and annoyed at the same time, Mikaela shook her head, trying to smile up at him. "I'll be fine, but thanks for your concern, Mirage." She told him.

"If it will help," Arcee spoke up, moving a step forward, making all look at her next. "I will stand by and keep watch, Optimus Prime, sir."

Optimus thought for a moment before nodding as he looked over at Spitfire. He would allow that and if Spitfire wanted to go to Elena, she would to. The red and black mech considered it for a moment before she nodded as she glanced from Arcee to Optimus, letting him know that she would agree to those terms. It was the only way she could go see if Elena was all right. "I agree to Arcee's offer, sir. She may accompany us." She told him.

Again, the Autobot Leader nodded and motioned for them to go ahead. Arcee then bent down and transformed into her alter form, letting Mikaela climb on the back of the Retro. With Spitfire in the lead, the three females set out through the base to look for Elena.


	12. Bonding

It didn't take too long to locate Elena, for Spitfire seemed to know exactly where she was. It didn't really occur to Mikaela it was because of their bond together. Elena was actually outside, looking at the Colorado river and looking like she had done a good deal of crying while out there by herself. There was a soldier out there, but he was doing his best not to leave his position to see if she was all right. He actually looked a little uneasy until the girls showed up. Seeing them, he looked a little relieved, so obviously he didn't know what to do with an upset girl.

Mikaela glanced up at the two female robots before holding a hand, giving Spitfire an apologetic look. The former Autobot didn't seem to mind though but looked down at her softly and nodded. Then the teen girl walked over to where Elena was sitting and sank down beside her.

Of course, Elena had glanced up at Mikaela but then shook her head as she looked towards the water, looking very sour.

For a long moment both girls stayed quiet as they looked at the calm water of the river, none of them looking at the other for a very long time. But then Mikaela turned her bright blue eyes back onto Elena, giving her a soft look. "Elena, what Trent said to you back there…." She was saying.

"Don't." Elena said quietly before she let out a long sigh and lowered her head, letting her golden and scarlet locks fall around her. "Don't make up excuses for him. And don't even think about feeling sorry for me. I've spent too many years having people feel sorry for me and I've had enough."

There was another silence between the girls before the dark haired one tilted her head, curiously to the side. "Elena….." She paused, biting her lip. "I've learned that talking about things helps a lot take weight of my shoulders. I kept my own share of secrets for a long time, not letting people know that I once had a police record for Grand Theft Auto." She smiled when Elena looked at her in surprise but she shook her head. "My father is in prison right now, but he'll be out for parole pretty soon. He used to steal cars to help pay the bills and I sometimes went with him because we couldn't afford a babysitter. When he got caught, I wouldn't turn him in. I loved him too much to do that to him. I was really embarrassed about it for a long time so I never told anyone about it." She lightly shrugged. "Sam eventually found out about it because of that jackass, Simmons. But he really didn't look down upon me for it. He actually helped me get rid of it." She told her, smiling.

Elena's face softened only mildly before she looked away again, frowning darkly. "At least you didn't nearly get your father killed." She said almost bitterly.

"Elena." Spitfire finally spoke up, now moving a step closer and tilting her head toward to look at the girls better. Both Mikaela and Elena looked up at her, frowning. "What happened to him wasn't your fault. It was an accident." She told her.

"Elena," Mikaela said thoughtfully. "Can I ask you what happened? Or will that hurt too much?"

Letting out a long sigh, Elena looked away, staring at the dark river sitting before her and Mikaela and the two female Cybertronians. She didn't say anything for a long moment before shaking her head. "I hated my private school. It was an all girl's school and most of the girls there were all snobs. I hated them all." She murmured. "I wanted to go to a real school. A school for girls and boys, like Trent's high school. I wanted to go to Tranquility Jr. high like him. This a few years ago, as you might have guessed." She shrugged with a frustrated sigh. "I wanted to be normal. Not the spoiled brat that everyone just wanted to use to buy them things or use the pool for parties or even just talk behind my back. I was tired of everyone else talking behind my back, thinking I was just the rich, daddy's girl because I could afford anything I wanted." She explained.

Mikaela slowly nodded as she listened to her. She knew how Elena felt about that. There was a time she felt the same way, though she hadn't really been rich at all. But there had been plenty of girls who talked behind her back.

Elena glanced at her from the side before looking away again, looking at the dark water before picking up a small stone and tossing it away from her. "Anyway, my father and I got into this huge argument about school. I kept asking him to let me go to a normal school but he was so paranoid about me meeting boys." She said, snorting a little with humor.

"A dad's worst fear." Mikaela added with her own humor.

That at least brought a smile to Elena's face as she looked at the other teen girl while shaking her head before her face fell again with sadness. "I tried to run away from home. This was after I got Spitfire, but before I even found out about her. She was…..my dad's car at first, of course. He promised me that he would give me the Lotus when I was old enough. I tried to run away in her." She glanced over her shoulder at the red and black former Valkyrie, who wrapped her arms around herself and gave her a soft look, which she returned. "She wouldn't let me go though. She pulled the dead car routine on me and let me cry a little in the driver's side. My dad showed and started to yell at me. He was really upset at me and he was crying a little. He said it hurt that I tried to run away from home and he tried to reason with me. He said that we talk about it when we got home." A choked sob burst out of Elena, causing her to cover her mouth with a hand as tears began to trail down her cheeks. "I wouldn't listen. I was just too angry at him and I tried to cross the street, running away from him. I didn't see the car coming."

It couldn't helped as Mikaela's own eyes started to water as she looked at Elena with all the sympathy of her heart. She already knew where this was going. "He saved your life." She murmured sadly.

Elena tried to smile through her tears as she looked at her and nodded. "The guy was speeding and he wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing. He didn't see me crossing the street. My dad did though. He came after me and shoved me out of the street before the car hit me. It should have killed him but it didn't. He was in critical condition and the driver wouldn't stop apologizing and even tried to run. But….." She gave a sharp laugh as she looked up at Spitfire, who innocently shrugged. "Something shot his tires and he couldn't go anywhere. Anyway, my father is now at home, with a private nurse in a coma. As for my mom, she was distressed that she wouldn't stop drinking. She's actually in a Rehabitation right now, trying to cure her alcoholism. Right now, she's not fit to be a mother." She told Mikaela.

"But what happened after that? Who took care of you after that?" Mikaela asked, frowning. "You couldn't possibly have lived on your own. Even with your father in a coma. Who…..?"

Elena gave a short laugh. "Yeah. That's kind of how I met Spitfire. I met her right after my father went into a coma and my mother started drinking. She actually revealed herself to me and begged for my forgiveness for not stopping the car from hitting my dad. She could have but she didn't want to reveal herself. It was too dangerous for her and I actually understood why she didn't show herself in the middle of daylight. I didn't blame her." She shrugged. "Not many thirteen year olds would understand like that. But I did. Somehow, I did understand her. I wasn't even surprised that my dad's Lotus a giant alien robot from outer space. I….." She narrowed her eyes, almost as if she was in awe. "I….I actually somehow knew when I first saw her. I saw that the Lotus was something special and was different from the others. At the time, she was an earlier Lotus models. She just updates herself every year into a better model. Either way, she asked to become my Guardian and she made me feel so good so I agreed." She told Mikaela.

Spitfire let out a light sigh, sounding a little more content than she had for a while. With only a glance at Arcee, she moved closer and knelt behind the two girls, gently placing her hand against Elena's back. "It was my spark calling to Elena, Mikaela. After her father's accident, I felt the need to protect her." She spoke softly.

Arcee folded her arms and shifted her weight as she nodded. "That makes sense. Our people have legends that say each Cybertronian has a partner somewhere in the universe. A creature that they would meet and feel a tug in their spark. It's the same feeling when our kind finds their spark mates." She explained with a shrug. "In a way, a Guardian taking a partner, a ward like Spitfire and Elena, or even Sam and Bumblebee, we bind our selves to that person. Our sparks will be connected to our wards."

Mikaela slowly nodded as she took in the information, smiling as she was impressed at the explanation. It explained quite a bit. Still, the matter at hand was Elena and Trent. She looked back at the golden and scarlet haired girl next to her. "Elena, I know Trent can be an idiot and can say the stupidest stuff ever but I really don't think he meant to hurt you." She told her.

"No." Elena said, with a light sigh and a faint smile. "He didn't. I know he can be a real big idiot and can act so tough. But he's got a soft spot somewhere in him. He's just had it kind of rough because of Uncle Roger. Even I have to admit it, that guy needs help." She told Mikaela.

"You going to be okay now?" Mikaela asked as she pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dirt off of her pants.

Elena nodded as she leaned back against Spitfire's hand, her hands folding together on her lap. "Yeah. I think I'm just going to sit out here a little longer. You know to calm my nerves." She said to her.

Mikaela bit her lip before looking up at Arcee, who narrowed her optics slightly before nodding as she met Spitfire's. "We'll wait for you then." She told the other female mech, who nodded her thanks.

Together, Mikaela and Arcee moved back to let Spitfire and Elena have some space together. It was kind of funny to see how peaceful the so called betrayer could be at moments like this. Mikaela really couldn't see a betrayer in Spitfire right now. She saw someone a little motherly to a girl who needed one right at the moment. She couldn't help but smile as she stood side by side the Valkyrie.

"In all my years," Arcee said softly, getting Mikaela's attention. The female mech was watching Spitfire and Elena very closely and there was just something on her face that read confusion and awe at the same time. "I've heard the stories about an Autobot taking a partner. There has been some who has taken one from different planets but not many. I never even thought about taking my own partner." She turned her ice blue optics down onto Mikaela, who was actually standing at her waist length, but looking up at her with a curious look. "I always wondered what it would be like to take a human partner like Bumblebee. It's the most perculiar thing I've ever seen. I've never seen him so protective over someone besides Spitfire when they were still friends. But he's awfully protective over Sam. I can tell."

"Hmm." Mikaela said, laughing softly and folding her arms. "You know it. It's funny watching him nearly freak out when we try to go to the outdoor movies, trying to watch a horror movie. He actually thought one of the Preditors of AVP was going to jump out of the screen and get Sam. Sam and I had to reassure him that it was just a story of fiction being shown in images and not real."

Arcee laughed, covering her mouth with one hand and shaking her head. "Oh, I wish I was there to see that one." She shook her head as she lowered her hand and shrugged. "I want to give the whole Guardianship thing a try sometime. Test it out and see if it's me." She told Mikaela.

Her eyes brightening, Mikaela knew exactly what she was trying to ask. She had to grin and nod as she waved a hand at her. "Hey! Not a bad idea! If you need any volunteers, I'll be happy to fill in the position." She said brightly.

Smiling, Arcee bent down a little on her one wheel and gave a nod as she lowered a hand, offering it to Mikaela. "Very well, Mikaela Banes. I, Arcee, an Autobot Valkyrie, swore my Guardianship to you. I swear to protect you from any harm. Especially from Decepticons." She told her, definitely making it sound like she was swearing a strong oath.

Mikaela just smiled brightly, feeling excited about telling Sam that Arcee was now her Guardian. She was excited that she now had her own giant robotic protecter like him. She would tell him later. Right now, all she could do was be there for Elena. She felt a little sorry for her. She never thought the secret that Elena just told her was so painful though. The younger girl was just so cheerful and outgoing that she would have never thought that she as hurting so much inside. It kind of made Mikaela feel bad for being such a bitch to her in the beginning. With all of her harmless flirting with Sam, she hadn't liked her. But she was starting to now. It made her feel good to decide to make friends with Elena Lincoln.

"Hey, Trent." Sam said, as he and Hot Rod found him near the barracks, using a pillow as a punching bag. Of course, Sam hesitated on approaching him.

Hot Rod, however, just laughed a little and shook his head as he went straight over to the young teen, who stopped immediately and looked up at him before looking almost very frustrated with having been found again. "Well, at least you're not using a tree as a punching bag this time." He remarked.

Trent looked only mildly surprised up at him before letting out a quiet scoff and shaking his head as he turned slightly away. "Yeah. Of course you know about me punching the tree. You were my car." He said dryly before starting to walk away.

"Trent! Just wait a second!" Sam said hurrying forward and grabbing his rival's shoulder.

However, Trent yanked away and spun around to shove Sam away from him with a fierce look on his face. The force of the shove would have made Sam trip over his feet and fall but the electric blue Autobot quickly reached down and caught him before looking at him. "Witwicky! Leave me the hell alone! I don't like you, all right?! And I know as hell that you don't like me! So stop pretending to care!" Trent snapped.

Sam glared at him before pushing himself upward with Hot Rod's help and stepped closer as if to face off with him. "I do care, Trent! I care about Elena's feelings! And I know you do too! She's your family! I don't know what the hell you meant by what you said about her dad and yours and I don't care! The fact is, you are being a jerk to everyone! Elena, me, Mikaela, all of the Autobots, Hot Rod!" He threw his thumb over his shoulder at the giant Cybertronian behind him. "He saved your life, if you trust him or not! Shockwave could have killed you but he didn't because Hot Rod stopped him, and so did Optimus and every one of the Autobots!"

"I don't care if I'm being a jerk to a wimp like you!" Trent snapped right into his face, looking ready to swing.

"Me, a wimp, Trent?! At least I'm not running away from the good guys who saved my life!" Sam shouted right back.

It was right then, Trent decided to swing a fist and came very well near to slugging Sam across the face, but it seemed that his rival had learned alot since he started hanging out with the Autobots. He ducked under his fist and let Trent throw himself off balance and trip over his own feet, falling to the ground. Hot Rod winced and almost reached down to help him up but stopped when Trent stood up on his own. He could only watch as the jock spun around and tried to hit Sam again. But once again, Sam ducked around him before shoving him against the wall to make him stop.

"Knock it off, Trent! When are you going to grow up and start thinking about it instead of deciding to try and knock my head off?!" Sam shot at him, his own fists balled up but he was keeping them calmly at his sides. Trent turned sharply and glared fiercely at Sam, now starting to move forward to swing again.

However, before he even came too close, Hot Rod's hand shot downward, slamming against the ground between them and cutting them off from one another, giving them both a very stern look. "Enough fighting!" He said sharply. He ignored the look he got from Trent though. "We shouldn't be fighting each other. Like it or not, we all are on the same side. The enemy are the Decepticons. Not each other. You might not like each other, and you surely must have a good reason. But right now, we are in a war!"

"I'm not in a war! You guys just dragged me into this!" Trent cried out, in ridicule.

Hot Rod let out a light sigh before retreating his hand and shaking his head as he remained bent over them. "I thought you were a tough guy, Trent. That's why I chose to pose as your car. Like it or not, you are in a war now. I apologize for dragging you into this. I thought you could handle anything. I thought that from the minute I even watched you play your game of football, and directed your team mates into what attacks to pull on the other team to win the game." He shook his head again as he slowly stood up straight. "But looks like I was wrong. You're not as tough as I thought you were. You are just a plain civilian. Sam, here, has more courage than you. And he's the so called wimp. Heh. Yeah. He's the wimp who ran clear across Mission City, being chased down by Starscream and Megatron just to keep the All Spark away from them. He's the wimp who was knocked off a ten story building and he still shoved the Cube into Megatron's chest to destroy him, ending an entire planet massacre before it could even begin. You do not know what it would be like if Megatron had succeeded in getting that All Spark from Sam. If he had gotten it, your career of playing football or even becoming an animal doctor would have been destroyed before you even had the chance." He told him stonily. "I chose you to enter this war because I thought you could do the very same thing he did. Looks like I was wrong. You won't stand up and help us protect this planet."

With that said, Hot Rod turned away, looking forlorn before he turned to walk away, leaving a very surprised Trent and a frowning Sam standing right there.

After a quick moment, Sam turned his attention back to his rival and shook his head. "Trent, you're tougher than this. You're the guy whose taken on several blockers and has ran many yards during football games. I know you didn't mean to say what you did to Elena. But what about Hot Rod? He's a good giant alien robot from a different planet, whose come to Earth to pretty much protect you from the bad giant alien robots who has come to destroy you." He gave Trent a wild look and shook his head. "For god's sake, he can take the form of any car as long as it suits him and its his size. A lot of normal guys would die to have a car that can do that." He told him.

Trent gave him a firm glare before he looked at Hot Rod's retreating form. He stared at him for only a few seconds before taking several strides after him. "I am NOT a wimp, Hot Rod!" He called after him.

His head coming up a little, Hot Rod turned back and looked down at him with a curious look.

"I am not afraid of anything, got that?! Especially of you Autobot guys! You want to trounce around as my car, fine! I don't care! But call me a wimp again, I will yak your ears off, or whatever just to drive you nuts!" Trent said stubbornly. He let out a long sigh as he rose a hand to run through his blonde hair. "I just...I'm just so used to being a jerk just because of my dad. I just wanted to impress him, all right? I've always failed his expectations and it's hard." He admitted.

Hot Rod stared at him, along with Sam before his optics softened and he moved closer to Trent again. He looked down at the jock who had to crane his neck just to look back at him before the Autobot lowered himself to his knee and offered his hand for Trent to sit on. Trent, at first, hesitated before sitting down and letting him lift him up about six feet off the ground so he could see him better. "I know. I've been watching you for six weeks, Trent. I know how hard you've been working. But there's just some people you can't impress. Your dad is one of them. He's got to learn how to impress you. Not the other way around. You're trying way too hard, little dude." he shook his head as he looked right into the human's eyes, looking somewhat sad yet smiling in a way that a robot could. "You have to do what you want with your life. Become what you want to be. You don't have to be apart of his life and have him telling you what to do all of the time. Your dad has to choose to be apart of your life and decide to accept you for who you are. As Optimus Prime says, every sentinel being has the right to choose for their selves. It's your right to choose your life, your path." He told him.

"Wow, Rod. That's kind of deep. Where'd you learn all of that?" Sam said, almost in awe.

Hot Rod smiled down at him, shaking his head. "I do listen to Optimus Prime, Sam. He says some pretty good stuff. That what makes him a great leader. He's taught a lot of us, Autobots, alot of things since he became the Prime. And he's done a lot to protect most of us." He then grinned and shrugged. "Then again, I watched Oprah a couple of times. I can see why a lot of people think its a dumb show. Too much crying and some sopy stories. But, then again. Some of those stories are pretty good and you can learn something from them." He told them both.

Both Sam and Trent had to laugh and shake their heads as they took turns to rolling their eyes at the large electric blue Autobot. Neither one really could see this incredibly outgoing, way too excited giant robot with a wild personality watch something so soft as Oprah.

After a minute, Trent motioned for Hot Rod to put him down. The Autobot complied and set him down right next to Sam, who turned to his rival, looking somewhat hesitant about something. After letting out a forced sigh, the jock turned towards Sam and offered his hand. "As much as I hate doing this with a loser like you, Witwicky, but we are in the same boat now. So let's call it a truce for now unless we give each other a real reason that pisses us off." He told him.

Sam nodded as he reached out and took Trent's hand, giving it a shake. "And it can't be over Mikaela anymore, got that? She chose me. Not you. You're just going to have live with that." He stated.

Rolling his eyes, Trent nodded as he shook Sam's hand right back before pulling it away and stepping back away from Sam. "Fine. I won't get pissed about Mikaela anymore. But you better not get pissed at me if she decides to leave you and come back to me." He said, giving him a smug grin.

It took a lot of effort not to blow up on Trent right there for Sam but gritting his teeth and holding his breath for about ten seconds, he nodded. He would have to agree for now. "And don't even think about putting a wedge between me and Mikaela, Trent."

"Okay!" Hot Rod quickly said good and loud, interrupting before they could start another argument and blow the truce right out of the water. "Now that we're becoming friends, why don't we go back and see how Bumblebee's coming along. Knowing Ratchet, he should have Bee's voice processor back in him."

Both young men glanced at him, but felt pretty grateful that he did step in and stopped them from fighting again. Then again, Sam really did want to see his Guardian and how he was doing. He wondered what his real voice would sound like. If what Hound had said, the voice that Bee had been speaking with was from a machine he had been letting the young scout use to communicate. So, Sam couldn't help but admit that he was a little excited.

There was a loud bang, followed by a sharp metallic yelp as they returned to the medic section of the base. Optimus was still there with Mirage, Blaster and Ironhide, all wincing as they listened to the sounds coming from the lab. It definitely made Sam, Trent and Hot Rod hesitate as they approached. The sounds coming from Ratchet's labs didn't sound too good. It actually sounded like Ratchet was torturing poor Bumblebee. Sam was already wincing as he listened to Bumblebee's squeaks and whirls as another bang errupted from the room.

"Aw, man. I think I'm glad that the Autobot medic is not our medic." Trent said, his eyes slightly wide as he looked at the doors to the medical facility.

Sam and Hot Rod both grimaced as they looked at him and shook their heads. "Uh, Trent. Ratchet kind of is the head of medics here. He takes care of the humans too." The other human told him.

Trent looked at him in alarm, staring for a very long moment as he let the words process into his mind. After that long moment, he looked wide eyed at Hot Rod, almost asking him if that was true. His answer was a nod from the electric blue Porsche and a wince. His head shaking, Trent pointed up at Hot Rod, giving him an alarmed look. "Okay, if you really are going to be my Guardian, you've got to make sure I don't get hurt and if I do, you take me somewhere other than Ratchet? Deal?" He asked, sounding a little frantic.

His startled reaction just made anyone who heard it laugh and Ratchet scold at him as his head popped right out the doors, giving the one who said it a look. "Oh be quiet." He grumbled before vanishing in the room again to finish his work.

"Wow. I'm glad you guys are getting along." said Mikaela as she walked with Elena and the two femme bots back towards where they were. She was greeted by Sam with a kiss and a light hug before they looked at Elena and Trent, who were eyeing each other warily.

"Elena, look. I'm sorry..." Trent started.

Elena shook her head as she held up a hand to silence him. She moved a little closer to him, her arms folded behind her back as she looked right up into her cousin's eyes. "Don't, Trent. Just forget it already. I know you didn't mean it. And I know you don't trust Spitfire, I know that everyone doesn't." She paused to glance at everyone, her eyes stopping on Mirage as he shot the spoken femme a suspicious look. "But you have to trust me, Trent. I know that what Spitfire did was completely stupid. But she was doing it to protect her best friend. Sometimes people, or Autobots, in this case, do things they really shouldn't but they really believe that they should do it to protect the ones they really care about. You can't possibly tell me that you wouldn't do it to protect me, Trent." She told him, giving him a stern look.

Trent looked away impatiently before looking back at her with light snort. "Geez. You really are a pain in the ass." He remarked as he threw an arm around her neck and rubbed her head, messing up her hair.

Elena let out a light squeal of protest as she tried to push away from him, lightly punching him. "Hey! Don't mess up the hair." She scolded him before starting to laugh as she hugged him. "I'm sorry too, for pissing you off. I know I shouldn't have told Sam and Mikaela about the dog."

"Dog?" Mirage suddenly asking, looking confused.

Optimus chuckled as he looked over at his officer but shook his head. "A dog is an animal on Earth. It's also known as a canine, Mirage." He informed him.

Mirage just frowned before his eyes dimmed as he decided to look at the World Wide Web for the answer. He paused briefly before nodding. "Ah. I see. A canine. Also known as man's best friend, a pooch, a barking tyrant..."

Everyone laughed as they looked up at the new arrival, some raising their eyebrows at him. Sam and Mikaela just shook their heads as they glanced at one another then back up at Mirage. The topic dropped though when both Ratchet and Bumblebee finally came out of the lab. All eyes and optics looked straight at the two, mostly Bumblebee, almost waiting for anything to happen.

"Bumblebee?" Sam asked, hopefully.

There were a few clicks and whistles from the yellow and black scout before Bumblebee made a sound as if he was clearing his throat. There came a light whistle as if someone was changing a radio frequentcy before Ratchet lightly nudged Bee, giving him a scolding look. "Heh, heh. Just kidding." The scout finally spoke. His own voice was rather young but a little more deeper than a usual teen's would be. But it was rather nice, especially to the girls.

Both Mikaela and Elena smiled as if they had just had their breaths caught by the very sound of it. They shared a look, both looking a little starstruck. "Awww! Bee's voice is hot! He kind of sounds like David Archiletta!" Elena cooed. They both earned an eye roll from all the males in the room, other than Optimus and Bumblebee, who was delighted to hear that.

"So, you can talk with your own voice now?" Sam asked, smiling brightly though.

Bumblebee looked down at Sam and bobbed his head as he moved closer, bending over him. "Yeah. My voice processor is still unused and still needs to be adjusted into but soon enough, I'll be sounding like my old self." He told his young human before his optics lift up to Spitfire and he stood up straight again.

Spitfire met his optics with her own before she shook her head and turned slightly away. She did look a little happy for him but she still wanted to keep her distance from him. With only a glance at him, she headed back towards the holding block. She, however, paused to look down at Elena when she started to follow and shook her head. "You need rest, Elena. It's getting late." She told her before she turned and walked off.

There was an awkward silence in the room before Optimus nodded as he looked around at everyone. "Spitfire has a valid point. It is getting late and I know some of our human friends are getting weary. So I think you all should head to the barracks and get some sleep. We might as recharge ourselves. However, Mirage, you still need to scan a vehicle. Hound has already done so with one of the military vehicles, though I don't think he's entirely pleased with it." He looked down at the four human teens, giving them a gentle look. "Go get some rest, you four." He told them.

Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena all nodded as they said their goodnights and walked together towards the barracks. Bumblebee and Hot Rod went with them though, now talking quietly to one another.

"Arcee," Optimus said, looking at the femme, who turned her optics onto the much larger mech. "Why don't you go along with Mikaela? You are now her Guardian after all." Arcee hummed as if she was smiling before she too went after the humans and the two male mechs. As for Optimus and Mirage, along with Blaster, they glanced at one another before walking off with one another. "You still don't approve my decision of keeping Spitfire online." The Autobot Leader spoke to his officer.

Mirage shook his head as he glanced at Blaster as the small Autobot sat down on his shoulder, making sure he was settled just fine before looking back at the big boss. "No, sir. I don't. I don't trust Spitfire. She's been nothing but trouble since Sentinel died and even more when she betrayed us." He sighed as he looked forward at the wide open doors of the base, looking into the night. "Optimus Prime, sir, you know very well who she had gone with when she betrayed us. It wasn't Megatron she started working for. It was..." He was saying.

"I know, Mirage." Optimus interrupted quietly. "I know she was with him. But we shouldn't have to worry about him anymore. He's gone, banished through the Oblivion Black Hole we sent him through. It was Hot Rod who knocked him in, if you remember right. I can't see Spitfire really serving anyone else without him. As you know, Megatron never liked her. He wanted to destroy her after her betrayal, according to Blaster."

Mirage sighed but shook his head as he folded his hands behind his back as they entered the night air. "It doesn't stop me from worrying, sir. There's a good chance that she's being controlled by Starscream. She does have that mechanism on her, after all. She could be playing us again." He told him.

Optimus just nodded as he tilted his head and looked up at the open stars, almost peacefully. "I understand, Mirage. That's why I'm having her carefully watched." He told him before he began to shift into his Peterbilt truck form while Mirage took on his Cybertronian car form and they drove off to search for the right car form for the new arrival.

 

Fort Bragg-Night

1:40 a.m.

The ocean waters near Fort Bragg were rather quiet, other than the gentle sound of the waves crashing upon the beaches and against docks. No one in their right mind would be on the beaches, for it was rather that night. It had stopped raining no more than three hours before, so some of the streets were still wet from the rain fall and the air was chilly. Inside the bay, a gigantic titan made of metal was slowly approaching the surface.

One of the Naval Bases in California, however, had picked up the sonar signal of the Typhoon submarine as it began to approach the U.S city. An officer working with the sonar system was the the one who heard the quiet pings, alerting him that there was a submarine nearby.

His name was Kirk Branham, and he was severely bored. There was hardly anything ever happening at this time of the night, nor was there anything happening. He had been keeping an eye on some of the U.S naval ships as they patrolled the Pacific boundaries for the states. He had heard a few reports from the U.S.S ships but nothing too interesting that they would worry about. He had been listening to all of the reports and the quiet ocean sounds for hours, and eventually found some entertainment by playing with a Rubic cube. He had at least one side completed but was having such a hard time with the other sides.

And that was when he heard the light pinging sound of a submarine.

Merely glancing at the sonar, he didn't seem particulary interested in what sub it was until he saw the numbers. S.S.B.N T.K 20. That was when his interest clicked on and he sat up straighter.

"What the hell...?" Branham muttered before sitting up straighter and looking closely at the sonar screen with a frown. He stared at it for a long moment before grabbing the computer pad and mouse to look closer. He wasn't sure he was seeing it right but he knew what the TK-20 was. "Sir!" He called over to his supervisor, who looked alerted the minute he called for him. "Sir, I think you better come see this..."

There was a low zap and the sonar radar seemed to short out, smoking and causing him to cry out in alarm.

The supervisor and any in the room exclaimed before hurrying over to see what the hell just happened. With the computer smoking, someone grabbed the extinguisher and hurried over to put out the flames there might be. The supervisor, however, had started demanding what Branham just did to destroy military property. Branham couldn't really explain but sputter a little as he didn't understand at all.

Just out in the night waters, the giant titan finally surfaced, moving ever so closer to the inland. It's destination was near a large construction yard where they were attempting to build a large office building. The building was still very skeletal and there was a giant crane sitting next to the building. The yard was very quiet though with only very people on the site. It was too late for anyone to actually be working and too cold. There were, however, a pair of construction workers standing by a monster of a dump truck, staring up at it with shock and awe.

"Why in the hell did someone request for this thing to come here? I don't see why we need it." One of them remarked.

His partner just shook his head as he went over to the Liebherr T 282B Dump Truck and touched the humongous front wheel. It was so much bigger than him, nearly seven or eight feet tall and wide, making him feel like an ant to a toy truck. The truck itself was monstrous in high. Nearly 20 feet high and 27 feet long. The back was nearly half the size of an olympian sized pool and could easily carry 400 tons of earth, maybe even more. It was the largest dump truck in the world, built by a German manufacturer.

What made things very suspicious was why it was brought to the United States just for the construction of a skyscraper they were building. No one really knew why it was there, only that someone had ordered it to be delivered to California.

"Geez, I can't believe I'm even seeing this thing. I heard about it, but seriously. I never would have guessed that I'd see it." The second worker remarked as he touched the foot thick rubber wheel. There was no doubt in his life that the giant tire was probably 200 lbs, if not more. Maybe a decent 375 lbs. And that was just one tire. There three more. It was rather exciting to see this huge thing.

However, Vladimir Karpos was not as enthusiastic as they were.

Upon surfacing, the devil like man flickered into view on the deck, right next to him, causing him to jump and look at him with terror. He hated this creature for what he had made him do to the bodies of his comrades. It had been in the artic ocean where he had forced Vladimir dump out all 234 passengers of the Typhoon submarine. There had been a lot of pain in Vladimir's heart as he threw the bodies into the icy ocean, where they sank into their new icy graves.

After that, the alien creature had ordered him to stay in 'his' quarters for the remainder of the trip. He was too scared to disobey so he returned to 'his' room and stayed on the bed. There had been a few times where he tried to make contact with the outside world, tried to contact Anya or anyone to alert them of the giant robot's presense but nothing worked. The creature had been a step ahead of him and blocked off any signals going out. It didn't punish Vladimir for his attempts but it did threaten him to knock it off before it did. Too scared, Vladimir only stayed quiet in his room, staring at a picture of his family or tried to think of any way to alert anyone of the monster's presense.

"We have arrived." The devilish human form of the creature said as it stared forward out the window of the sub. It was quiet for a moment before turning its burning red eyes onto a frightened Russian officer, smirking as if it found his fear amusing. "Go to the hatch and get out. Don't even think about running away, human. Because I can catch you so easy before you even move. And if you do somehow escape, your daughter, Anastasia will be the one to suffer for your foolish acts."

With a sigh, Vladimir just nodded as he was already moving. He knew that he had no choice. He didn't doubt the creature's threats at all. It was huge as it was and could easily catch up to him as he tried to run away. Besides, he was curious about what the creature was going to do in Nevada.

Climbing out into the cool night air, the Russian Intelligence Officer was only so happy to be able to breathe fresh air again. He had taken a moment to breathe and smell the salty hair of the Calfornian ocean air. It may have been cold for the usual Americans who lived in the warm state, but it was warm for Vladimir, considering what he was used to. He almost got lost by just breathing the slightly warm, ocean air before he felt a rumble under his feet, almost like a growl, reminding him to get out.

Nervously, Vladimir climbed out of the hatch way and walked towards the iron ladder that most used to climb on and off of the sub. He was only so surprised to see that the submarine had actually pulled up very close to the American shore, near the large construction site. He didn't understand why they were there, but he knew sooner or later, he would find out.

Without any effort at all, the Russian IT Officer climbed down the iron ladder to the bottom and had to jump the remaining five feet until he hit the cold water. He gasped when he hit the cold water, going under a little. It was a little deep for him and rather cold but not as cold as the Russian waters. It was only a good thing that he did know how to swim. It was shallow water for the submarine and he was sure that it was touching the sandy bottom.

Swimming to shore and climbing onto the Californian beach, Vladimir almost regretted instantly for even thinking about jumping into the water. It was nearly freezing cold as soon as he hit the cool air. He was instantly shivering as he quickly moved up the beach, wrapping his arms around himself to try and save some body heat. Now, for the submarine. He could only wonder how fast it could catch him if he did start running away and it was still off the beach.

The answer came the very instant he thought the question.

There was a thunderous click, just off shore before the submarine began to shift and move. It seemed to be falling apart now, shocking Vladimir to just lower his arms and watch. He couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the submarine now starting to shift and move, transforming into something. The metallic screeches were enough to echo towards the city and he was sure that someone heard it.

It took only a minute before the transformation was complete and the alien robot was slowly pushing itself to its feet. It was massive in size, nearly the size of a skyscraper. There was no doubt that if anyone was looking towards the beach it was now thundering onto, they would see it and panic. The ground, however, began to shake and rumble violently that could have easily be mistaken for a small earthquake, but either way, it did set off some alarms in stores. Lights in the city flashed on but no one looked towards the beach to see the 70 foot robot now thundering onto the American beach.

Vladimir was beyond terrified now and any thoughts of escape quickly diminished. He knew that there would be no way of escaping from this one. It could crush him into dust if he started running. He felt as if he would piss his pants by arching his head back so far just to look at the alien's metallic face. He could barely see it though for it was so dark. But he could see those fiery red eyes, turning in every direction as it searched for something.

The giant robot found what it was looking for.

Looking down at bug like human, it bent down and offered its hand to him, giving him a deadly sneer if it could. "Come." He demanded.

Vladimir didn't want to do the very thing but knew better than to ignore the order. Shaking violently, he climbed onto the six foot wide hand and sat on it, having to hold his breath as it slowly rose into the air. He found himself gripping the creature's metal thumb as he watched himself rise so high. He knew that if the robot dropped him now, he would instantly die when he hit the ground.

Instead of looking down, the IT Officer looked toward the direction the alien robot was now thundering towards. He froze at the sight of a massive machine sitting in the middle of the construction site. He couldn't believe there was a vehicle on wheels that size. He had heard a few rumors, but never had seen them. And it was clear that was what the target.

"Oh, my god." He murmured.

But the giant alien ignored him as it thundered into the yard and up to the huge dump truck It didn't even seem to hear the exclaims of shock from the construction workers that had seen it. It just walked right up to the Liebherr T 282B and looked it over, as if studying it. And in deed, it was. It was taking in the massive size, the weight, everything before it grunted and bent down, putting Vladimir down on the ground.

There were several clicks and metallic bangs as the monsterous alien robot began to shrink and transform again much like it had before. But this time, it wasn't a submarine. It had copied the massive vehicle and now there were two of them sitting side by side.

"Holy..." said a Construction worker as he hurried over to Vladimir's side, looking up at the new dump truck with shock. "Shit...what the hell is this thing?"

The Russian glanced sidewards at the American before shaking his head as he gave him a look of pleading. "You need to run! Contact your American Government! Run! Run!" He yelled at him. "It will kill you if you...!"

It was too late.

Just like before, there was a metallic click from the massive dump truck before projectile seemed to fly right off of the truck's side. It startled any of the construction workers that were in the yard. They didn't understand what was happening before some sharp sliced through one, earning a sharp cry of alarm and pain. For a very long moment, the worker just stood there before blood began to run down his front and the top half of his body fell over.

That was when the panic settled in. The construction workers who had just seen the death of their fellow worker began to scream in fear before turning to run away as fast as they could. They did look back when the giant truck roared to life and began to move but it was the least of their worries.

For before they could even get five feet away from where Vladimir had been, the sharp projectile sliced through them just like it did with the first.

Vladimir was the only one standing, who was trembling violent with only his arms covering his head, watching the massacre of the Americans. He did not move though, too afraid of his alien prison keeper. He could not endanger his daughters or his wife because he wanted nothing more than to runaway. But it didn't stop him from breathing rapidly as he shook with every fiber of his body.

A moment later, the giant truck rolled right in front of him and his head jerked up to see the monsterous size of it. The face grill could even crush him if it fell off. And he found the orange symbol sitting directly in front of his face, on the bumper. The insignia was nearly as big as his head, so it was almost like looking into the alien robot's own eyes. It was very un-nerving looking right into the empty eyes of the robot insignia. As for the truck, its engine was almost growling at him.

"If you ever do that again, try and warn your fellow humans, I will destroy everything all around us." A voice growled from the truck before the door to the cab swung heavily open, banging against the railing it was next to. "Now, get in."

Too afraid to disobey, Vladimir clambered up the steel stairs on the front of the giant dump truck and onto the platform where the cab was sitting. He didn't hesitate to hurry over to the cab and slam himself into the seat. Once inside, the door slammed shut and the truck began to roll out. Vladimir could only just sit there in the seat, shivering from not only cold but from fear. He had watched this monster slice down more men without any effort and it had been his fault. He had told them to run and to warn their government. But then again, he knew, the monster dump truck would have done it anyway. He just still couldn't shake the images of how big this robot really was.

In his opinion, the American Government was doomed if they ended up facing this monster.


	13. More Trouble

The old fashioned Army Hummer was not what Hound would have actually first picked for a disguise but there really wasn't much of a choice when he was taken to the Autobot base. He especially didn't like the dull green color to it. Now, he wasn't like Sunstreaker or even Jazz, very picky about what they would look like in a disguised form, but this was ridiculous. The HMMWV-M998 Hummer did not suit someone like Hound.

So he was rather irritable as he worked in the Communications and Intelligence Gathering Department. Though, some of the people he was working with was doing all right.

When Hound actually first met Maggie Madsen, he think too much about her, other than she was a rather exquisite human. He only saw looks from this one, though he wasn't at least the bit interested in her at all. He just ignored her most of the time while she worked at her own little station, trying to locate Anya Karpos. He just went on, looking through what the hell the humans had for intelligence and to say the least, he was only a little impressed. Some of the technology they had were a little advanced for their species, but it was nothing compared to what he was going to do with it. He almost grinned to himself to image what look he was going to see on the humans' faces. It should have been very interesting.

He had seen the large, round, dark skinned human called Glenn too and he wasn't too impressed with that guy. Especially when he was eating a few Swiss Rolls, which he had looked up and found that they were chocolate cake like snacks that were high in fat. However, he was impressed with how intelligent the guy was. Especially with how he was learning how to speak Cybertronian and somewhat succeeding. So he had to give him that much credit.

Either way, he was a little irritated for a few reasons. His ridiculous diguise was one of them. Working with Glenn and watching him eating was another. And the third was arguing with Maggie about how to search for Anya Karpos.

"Slag it! Will you stop trying to take control of the satillite and scanning the freqencies?" grumbled the IT Autobot as he glared down at the sunny haired human, who glared right back at him.

Maggie had indeed hacked into the satillite system and was attempting to use it to scan the entire globe to see if she could find any hint of where Anya could be. She had even looked into the past cycles of the satillite and see if she could locate the plane that Anya might have gotten on from the time she disappeared. She was feeling very worried about her Russian friend. She might have met her at some Computer convention but in truth, she felt as if she had knew her for many years. They had stayed in contact for only about two years, learning about each other and even shared their tactics of hacking intelligence. So she knew some of Anya's moves.

However, it had only been a few months before she was recruited into the mission at the Pentagon after the Decepticons' first attack at the Qatar Air Base before Maggie stopped talking to Anya. She had been too busy with her work at the Pentagon to contact her about anything and connection with her somewhat fell apart. Anya had not crossed Maggie's mind very much at all after learning about the Transformers and getting to know them. She had been too busy.

Until now.

"Hound! Shut up already! I'm trying to find Anya!" Maggie growled at him before turning back to the computer. She was getting agitated with him telling her what to do and what not to do. She didn't have time to argue with him.

Hound shot her a look. "Doing it that way will take too long. And it's interferring with my upgrades. Just hang back, a'ight?" He told her.

"No! I want to find Anya right now! If I hang back, I can't find her! I want to see if I can hack into the Russian Satillite..." Maggie was saying.

The Autobot shook his head as he huffed impatiently but shifted his weight as he turned his attention back onto the computer in front of him. He didnt' want to argue with Maggie any more than she did. "That will take too long doing it that way. Just let me upgrade a few things and then I'll let ya go away at it." He told her. "Just trust me, all right?"

Maggie rolled her eyes but leaned back against her chair as she watched Hound as he worked. "Fine. But what the hell are you doing anyway?" She asked.

Hound snorted as he went onto working on the large computer for the Autobots. He didn't look at her as he just concentrated on the computer and doing his work. "I'm only upgrading your human technology with ours. Your technology is pretty impressive for humans but it could use some work. What I'm doing," He paused as he went to typing on the huge keyboard built just for the giant alien robots. "What I am doing is adding our computer program, Teletran to your system. Teletraan is an Artificial Intelligence, basically a computer robot that combines itself right into any computer system. With it, we will have access to every computer in the world. Of course, it won't interface with another Government's computer without the permission of the Prime. And as you know, Optimus has too much pride to do such a thing without the acknowledgement of your people. That, and he won't cause any conflicts between your Governements. The most that he'll have Teletraan do is hack into the satillites and try to locate any Decepticon activity. Teletraan won't be able to pinpoint the Decepticon base, due to the fact that a guy called Soundwave might be here. But it will be able to find out what kind of mischief the Deceptions are up to when they start it."

Maggie slowly took in all of the information and had to admit it but it was pretty amazing. It all made sense to her and she understood it just fine. Anyone else, it might have not made any sense but because she understood it. "Okay. So you're using our computer and upgrading it with your own. Why? What's so special about it?"

Hound snorted as he held up an arm and opened up a small compartment in it. From it, he pulled out some kind of device that looked almost like a flash drive in a strange twisted way. Holding it up, he almost grinned down at Maggie, who was watching with interest. "Miss Maggie Madsen, say 'ello to Teletraan." He said before plugging the device into the large computer.

As soon as it was in, a humming sound began to fill the entire room, making several people look over with confused frowns. The computer was what was humming and it sounded strange and metallic. Even Glenn's head came up from behind his portable DVD player where he was watching an episode of X-Files and he looked at the giant computer built just for the Autobots. Like most, his jaw fell when he saw the large screen starting to glow brightly, flashing now and then. A few alarms went off, startling anyone else in the base. The Autobots, however, merely glanced up before turning to any humans, telling them to calm down. They had gotten Hound's message, stating that he was going to turn on Teletraan. So they were fully aware of what he was doing.

It took almost five minutes for the humming to finally die down and the alarms shut off. There was only a gentle throbbing coming from the computer and a light glowing blue on the wide screen.

Hound waited for a moment before nodding in satisfaction as he reached up to the large Cybertronian keyboard, typing a few things before dropping his hands again. "Looks like Teletraan is fully operating. But let's run a few tests. Teletraan, this is Autobot Destination, Hound. Scientist and Researcher. Scan the building and report the number of individuals; Autobot and human." He told the computer.

There was a low hum from the computer before the screen lit up brightly with Cybertronian words, gaining interest from Glenn. "Autobot Intelligence Designation; Teletraan reporting. The exact number of Autobots is twelve. The exact number of humanoid earthlings is 576. The exact number of non-human and non-Cybertronian are 234, 564." 

"Huh? What's it mean by that?" Glenn asked frowning, joining everyone in the room to frowning at the computer's report.

Hound also frowned but he had a good idea of what the computer meant. Snorting, he typed his question into the computer, although he knew that Teletraan could very well hear him speak. "Acknowledge the non-humans and non-Cybertronians, Teletraan. What species is also present in the Hoover Dam Autobot Base?"

"Non-human and Non-Cybertronian species acknowledged. Reports show a miminal amount of mammals; also known as rats, bats, desert mice, and even a canine variety known as a Chihuahua are present in Hoover Dam Autobot Base." 

A few groans and a squeal showed the displeasure from every human that heard the reports; the squeal actually coming from Glenn. So it was only natural for everyone to raise an eyebrow at him, which he ignored. "Aww, man! Rats?! I hate rats! You telling me that there are bunch of rats inside the base!" He complained before literatally shuddering as if something icky had rolled down his back. "Disgusting!"

Rolling his optics, Hound looked at Maggie, who was not as pleased as Glenn was about there being rats in the base. "So? What do you think?" He asked.

Maggie made a face, but paused to glance up at the door, almost smiling when she saw the twins. She was more pleased to see the yellow Grand Sport desguising twin more than the Stingray but with a shrug, she folded her arms and looked right at Hound. "Impressive. But I still have my questions. Can your computer find anyone? Say, like..." She paused to think, squinting her eyes a little. "Where is Simmons?" She asked with interest.

Hound gave her skeptical look before he pointed off to the side. "He's right over there." He remarked as he seemed to smirk at her.

Maggie's head whipped around and she saw the annoying agent standing with Lennox, Epps and even Monique, who was on crutches. Frustrated, she looked away, giving Hound a look. "Okay, okay. A little harder challenge." She said.

"How about my uncle, Reno Banes? I think I should check up on him anyway. Make sure he's not getting himself in trouble or anything." Mikaela spoke up as she, Sam, Elena and Trent joined everyone in the communications room, along with their Guardians. Spitfire and Bumblebee, however, kept glancing at one another. Everyone knew that he wanted to speak to her but she kept drawing back away from him. And everyone knew that Bumblebee wasn't exactly the kind who forced someone to talk unwillingly.

There was a pause as Hound thought about it before he nodded. He liked that idea. It was a pretty good one. So he looked at Teletran. "Teletraan, locate Reno Banes." He told the super computer.

The computer hummed for a moment before the lights began to flash and alarms went off, making Hound step back as if he was surprised. He was definitely not expecting it. And neither was any of the other Autobots. They looked just as surprised, and very alert. "Location of Renonous Banes completed." The Computer began.

"Renonous?" Trent asked quickly as he looking at Mikaela. Like some, he was silently making fun of the name.

Mikaela, however, just rolled her eyes as she looked at him, Sam and Elena, who seemed to just as amused as the Jock. "Don't ask. I think my grandmother was very high on morphine when he was born. He hates his real name. If you had a name like that, wouldn't you?" She asked, dryly.

"Yeah. I think I would." Elena remarked, smiling. "It's a better thing that your uncle is cute. Because if anyone really knew that was his real name, I think a girl would think twice about getting involved with him. Reno is definitely a better name."

"Ew." Mikaela remarked, making a face.

No one was really listening to them though. They were still listening to Teletraan's report with interest. "Location; Las Vegas City, Banes' Auto Plaza. However, reports shows that there are Decepticons near area. Decepticon Designations; Barricade, Ravage and Sideways are currently located near human. Reports show Decepticons are surveying Renonous Banes. Best calculations; Decepticons are planning on attacking the human. Possible conclusion; Decepticons are planning on capturing a relative of Autobot human allies and will try to negociate for his life." 

Mikaela let out a terrible sound between a gasp and a shriek as she covered her mouth horror, while everyone was just as tense. "NO! NO, NO, NO!" She whirled around and looked wide eyed up at Optimus, very shakened. "Optimus...!" She cried, sounding frantic.

However, Optimus was already making up his mind. He turned his optics with a jerk onto Arcee and Bumblebee, looking highly authortive. "Arcee, Bumblebee and Hound, I'm assigning you to this mission. Take Mikaela and Sam with you to retrieve Reno Banes before the Decepticons do." He paused to look over at the Mirage and the twins. "Knowing the Decepticons held responsible, they will need back up. Therefore, Mirage, you will lead the defense team. The rest of us will stand by." He told them seriously.

Surprisingly, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker did not argue. In fact, they looked too serious to argue about the situation.

"What about us, Optimus? Don't you think we should be apart of this too?" Epps asked, frowning.

Optimus looked down at him but shook his head. "Reno Banes is not aware of us, Sergeant. I think it best we keep it that way. So Sam and Mikaela should reach him before the Decepticons can attack him and lead him to safety while the others deal with the threat. If we can't avoid it, then you should prepare your forces to join in with the attack. And we will bring Reno Banes in. For now, we will all stand by." He told them.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they jumped into action. Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Arcee were quick to transform into their alter forms, letting their humans jump inside. The twins and Mirage were already ready transformed and ready to go.

"Autobots!" Optimus stated as he took the first few steps towards the hanger doors before making his own quick transformation. "Roll out!"

 

It was a well known fact among most car franchisers that if you wanted to make good deals, have great running cars, not to mention, have an awsome car, you went to Reno Banes' X-Sports car dealership. He sold a lot of varieties of cars from different businesses and dealerships. If a customer wanted a large Ford long bed truck, that customer got it. If a customer wanted an Audi R 8, they got it. From Fords to Dodges, and Chevys to Ferraries. Reno Banes' X-Sports car dealership had it.

However, Reno Banes had a good variety of his own cars but he was accustomed to his metallic green 2009 Jeep Wrangler. It was his pride and joy. He especially loved taking it up in the mountains for a pleasure cruise. It was the only way of getting away from all of the hustle and bustle.

But not today.

Reno had been planning on going up to the moutains to for some peace and quiet. Maybe try to do a little fishing up at the lake. He just needed to get away from it all. But that was before he got a call from Mikaela's mother, Trish. She had been pretty frantic on the phone, stating that there had been some kind of gas explosion in the neighborhood Mikaela's boyfriend, Sam lived in and there was no news about any who may have been hurt. Worst things worst, Trish had been trying to get a hold of Mikaela but she wasn't answering. She hadn't heard from her all night long. It wasn't really the first time that Mikaela's disappeared for a night. But after hearing about the gas explosion and not hearing from her daughter, Trish Banes had a right to be frantic.

So she called Reno to find out if Mikaela was with him.

The answer had been no, of course. But it also meant that Reno's fishing trip was cancelled. He became very worried about his neice and was now at his office, making several calls to the police stations all over Nevada to see if they could find Mikaela. He had only started that morning and didn't help that some of his partnerships were wanting to arrange meetings with him.

It probably wouldn't help his case with his partners that he snapped at them and told them that he didn't have time for them. But his nerves were pretty shot right at the moment. His favorite neice, well...his only neice was missing for god's sake! So he couldn't help but panic a little.

"Damn it! Will someone get on that damn phone and talk to Jerrison at GMC and explain to him why I'm not answering his damn calls?!" Reno yelled at one of his workers in the front.

No one at the store could blame Reno for being so moody. They all knew Mikaela. She had visited the X-Sports a few times and met them. They knew very well of how much she meant to their boss. Reno treated his neice as if she was his own daughter and was trying to help her family with the problems that his brother had gotten himself in. There had been plenty of times that Reno offered to help his brother, Dallas Banes with his money problems. But when they had been younger, before Mikaela was even born, they both had a falling out. He knew very well that Dallas and Trish hadn't told Mikaela what happened between him and his brother but he did try to be apart of her life.

It had been his money and reputation that helped Dallas a little into not staying in prison for more than six years. For now, the six year mark was nearly up. Dallas would be getting out of prison in just a few short months and he planned on confronting him about the problem. He wanted to be apart of his sister in law's and neice's lives. So it was time to confront Dallas about the day they had fallen out with each other and get over it.

But right the moment, Reno was more worried about finding Mikaela.

The phone was ringing again while he was trying to talk to a police chief in Las Vegas about the whereabouts of Mikaela and Reno was getting ever so closer to yanking the phone out of the wall and throwing it out the window.

"Victor!" Reno yelled as he whirled away from his window, going to the phone. "Didn't I ask you to get the calls?!"

The worker, Victor appeared in the door way, wiping his hands free of oil. He had been working on one of the cars in the garage and he did look somewhat annoyed. "Boss-man, I'm working on the Viper like you told me to! It's suppose to be ready for that chick whose coming to get it tomorrow!" He told him impatiently before picking up the phone from the counter.

"Young lady, Victor! Not chick! Women do not like being called chicks! How many times do I have to tell you that? One day, Vic, you are going to make the mistake of calling a woman that while on a date with her and she's gonna to kick you in the balls or the shin, or where ever!" Reno told him moodily before turning back around towards the window. "Look, Chief Jones! My neice is missing! My sister in law is about to have a heart attack! I need to find Mikaela now! Are you gonna help me or not?!" He demanded.

"Mr. Banes, this is Las Vegas. Do you know how many missing person cases we have going on right now?! We are doing the best we can! Now, calm down for a moment and think this through. You said that your daughter's boyfriend lives in Tranquility. Now, why don't you try..." The police chief was saying.

"Because I already talked to the Tranquility Police, like, a hundred times! They said she wasn't among the people in the Tranquility neighborhood that was involved with the gas explosion!" Reno nearly shouted into the phone as he ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. "God! You know what! You ain't helping!" He then slammed his thumb on the red button of his cellphone and nearly threw the phone across his office. "Damn it! Mickey, you better not be lying in some ditch somewhere! 'Cause if you are..." He groaned as he sank down in his chair, looking very pitiful. He really hoped that Mikaela was okay. If she was hurt, he would never forgive himself for not being there.

"Hey, Boss!" The worker, Victor called from the front.

Reno let out a very frustrated sigh as he rest his elbows on the desk and ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair again. He was getting stressed out. He knew if he got any more stressed out, he might grow gray hairs and that was something he wasn't ready for. "What?!" He demanded in stress.

Victor just poked his head around the door, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. He looked a little relieved but not enough. "There's a cop car outside. I think he's waiting for you. He might have some news on Mickey!" He told him.

Sighing deeply, Reno shoved himself to his feet and hurried out of his office. He really hoped that was the case. Because it was another cop coming to threaten him that if he didn't stop calling the Police Station about his damn neice every hour, that he'd be arrested, Reno was going to file a complaint and he was going to make sure that everyone heard that the P.D. wasn't doing their job to protect and serve.

The cop car he saw sitting right outside was a pretty nice one; A Saleen in its traditional police colors, black and white. The car was well taken care of, glossy and clean. Either that it was taken care of or the cop didn't do anything but sit around. But seeing the driver peering at him through a rolled down window, waiting patiently for him to come talk to him, Reno didn't think so anymore. The cop looked tough as nails. He wasn't even smiling or looking friendly at all.

Reno took a second to glance the car over, admiring the type of car the cop was driving. His eyes roamed over the numbers; 643 on the front just below the headlights but stopped on the writing near the right rear tire.

"To punish and enslave." Reno murmured before snorting and shaking his head as he approached the cop car. "Talking about some sense of humor." He then nodded to the cop, who was watching him very seriously. He took a second to glance past the car, noticing a very wicked motorcycle just sitting near the road. He couldn't even recognize what kind of motorcycle it was. It didn't even have a seat. "Oookay." He stated then he looked back at the cop. "Hey. Did the Department send you to let me know what's going on with my niece, Mikaela Banes?"

The cop just stared at him, not making any movement to answer. He just watched him for a very long moment before he dipped his head a little lower. "Reno Banes?" He asked, his voice awfully deep. In fact, he almost sounded like it was metallic.

Raising his eyebrow, Reno nodded impatiently as he leaned against the door looking at the cop. He didn't know what was up with the cop's voice. Maybe he had once had his throat damaged in some raid or something to make him sound like that. "Yeah. That's me. Now, do you have information about Mikaela or not?" He almost demanded. He didn't even care that the cop was now glaring at him for demanding him for answers. He just wanted to find out where Mikaela was.

"Get in." The cop demanded before the back door behind his seat swung open, almost hitting Reno.

Startled, Reno stepped back, looking at it with surprise. He had never seen an automatic door opening like that before. It was more creepy than cool. But still, the cop might actually know where Mikaela was. Looking hesitatedly at the cop before moving around to the back. "Does that mean you guys know where she is?!" He asked almost frantically as he started to get in.

"Uncle Reno! NO!"

Reno's head whipped around when he heard the roar of an motorcycle engine followed by Mikaela's voice. He almost felt as if his heart was going to stop when he saw her speeding into the car lot, towards him. She didn't even have her helmet on. That was something he usually took very serious and he would scold her later for it. But for now, he felt a breath of relief escape him as he stepped away from the cop car. "Mikaela! God damn you! You scared the hell...!" He started to yell at her.

Mikaela, however, didn't even wait for the Retro to fully stop as she was jumping off. That was something to give Reno's heart a jump start again as he let out a startled yell but then froze when he saw it still standing up right. The teen girl just took several steps forward, looking at him with wide eyes. "Get away from him, Reno!" She screamed at him.

Suddenly there was a loud click from behind Reno, making him frown and turn a little. It almost sounded like the cop was actually pulling a gun on him. It wasn't a gun that he saw. It was a the seat belt lashing out at Reno, wrapping around his arm and yanking him into the back of the cop car.

"WHOA!" Reno Banes exclaimed as he toppled onto the floor of the police car. But that wasn't even part of his worries. He was more worried about the door slamming shut and the wheels squealing as the car jolted.

"NO! Arcee!" Mikaela screamed as she jerked around.

The Retro was already moving to shoot after the Saleen cop car. But before the Valkyrie could get more than a few feet away from Mikaela, the strange motorcycle near the road exploded into straps of metal before lunging at her. Mikaela was too startled to see a vicious metallic panther attacking her guardian before registering that it was a Decepticon. She screamed once before looking after Barricade. She couldn't let him get away. She knew very well that Bumblebee and Hot Rod were just down the street, waiting for Arcee's signal. But right now, she couldn't wait for them.

Looking frantically around, she spotted Reno's Jeep Wrangler and didn't even think about what she was going to do. She should have known that there was no way she would be able to keep up with Barricade but she had to try.

Running over to the Wrangler, Mikaela jumped in and turned the key in the ignition. She was only too glad that her uncle still left the keys in the jeep. Within only a few moments, she was pounding her foot on the gas, jolting after the Decepticon. She made a quick glance at Arcee, hoping she was going to be okay with the Decepticon. She almost smiled to see Arcee's swift transformation as she immediately started fighting back. The Valkyrie was waving a quick hand at Mikaela, telling her to go on.

Speeding down the busy streets of Reno, Nevada was probably not the best idea but Mikaela had to catch up to Barricade and save her uncle. She couldn't let him get hurt because of the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

"HEY! Stop this car, man!" Reno was yelling in the back seat and banging against the grill separating him from the cop. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening to him. He was actually being kidnapped by a cop! He knew it was kidnapped because cops didn't just forcefully take someone without telling them the reason. So he began kicking hard at the doors and banging hard on the grill to get the twisted cop's attention. "YO! Officer! What the hell do you think you're doing?! This is kidnapping! You are breaking your own laws by taking me against my will and not telling me why!"

"SHUT UP!" A harsh metallic voice exploded from the radio, startling Reno against the back seat. It had not been the cop who spoke.

Breathing rather rapidly, Reno took the chance to looking out the rear window to see his jeep right behind them. He could see Mikaela in the driver's side, fighting to catch up but not doing so good. Jeeps were not as fast as Saleens were. "Mickey, no." He hissed between his teeth before looking back at the cop. "Where are you taking me?! Why?! What have I done?! I didn't sell a bad car! I didn't steal anything! What's your name, officer?! I'm going to report you to your supi..."He was saying.

The cop whirled around, glaring at him with almost glowing red eyes that intimidated Reno to no other. His hands weren't even on the wheel, which shocked him even more. "If I have to tell you to shut up one more time, I will kill you, human! And then it will be your fault of whatever punishment that Soundwave will put me through!" The cop didn't even speak but it was clear that the voice wasn't coming from him.

"Whoa..." Reno breathed uneasily as he looked forward at the road that the cop wasn't even paying attention to. He was stunned to see that the car was driving all on its own. "Wh-what are you...does your car have cruise control?" He asked uneasily.

The cop ignored him with only a growl before the car suddenly swerved as a yellow and black streak came ripping across the road in front of it. It was followed by a blue one. And it only took Reno a moment to recognize Sam Witwicky's yellow Camaro and Trent DeMarco's electric blue Porsch. They had came out of now where, taking the cop by surprise, and Reno for that matter. The two vehicles dropped down to beside the cop car and slammed into with on both sides. Reno exclaimed as he was nearly thrown side to side before looking to see the windows roll down quickly from each car. Sam was in the passenger side of his car with no one driving was very un-nerving, while Trent was kneeling in the driver's side, again with no one driving.

"What the hell...?!" Reno exclaimed in shock before there was a loud metallic growl from the car as it sped up, pulling away from both cars. It was now a race for Reno Banes' life.

The three cars sped down the roads, with the cop car slightly in the front and the two just near its rear bumper. They kept swerving around public traffic, trying to avoid crashing. It surprised Reno that Sam and Trent were even there. They were actually attempting to save him but under what cause? Why were they actually going up against a cop to save him?! It must have been a defected cop because there was no way a Police officer would be allowed to take someone against their will. But that still didn't explain why...

"AHHHHH!" Reno found himself yell when two new vehicles nearly bashed into the sides of the cop car. His jaw dropped to see a sunny yellow Corvette Grand Sport and a Corvette Stingray. He had only seen the Stingray once and that was at a New Car convention. The 2010 Grand Sport had been there too and it was a nice car but why were they here?!

The police car swerved a little to avoid each hot car before making a hard right, smashing into a near by field that lead out of the city. It was quickly followed by the pursuing cars, as well as nearly blur of silver that came out of nowhere, slamming into the Stingray. An Audi R 8! One of Reno's own cars! Or so he thought. To add up on Reno's shock, he had just been looking through the window when the two silver cars seemed to explode but not of fire and smoke. Metal began shifting and moving all over the place before two giant silver robots stood up, glaring at one another. Ten foot blades shot out of the Stingray's arms before it lunged at the other, attacking the R 8. Still, Reno couldn't believe his eyes. The cars had actually turned into giant 19 foot, 20 foot robots!

"Oh my go...!" Reno had been exclaimed.

WHAM!

The police car had made such a sudden stop that he went slamming into the grill, earning a very nice cut above his right temple. Reno let out a loud painful groan before he yelped as the car spun quickly around and the left rear door swung open, letting him topple right out onto the hard ground. Reno scraped up his arm pretty good at the sudden landing but that was the least of his worries.

There was an explosion near by, or at least two of them. The ground ten feet away from him shot up into the air as something slammed into it and the other explosion was the cop car. But like the Stingray and the R 8, it stood up as a giant robot, causing Reno to shuffle back a little ways. He felt as if his heart was going to shoot out of his chest.

Before getting too far, there were more metallic explosions and it allowed Reno to glance quickly around only to see more robots suddenly appear, moving in to attack the Saleen police cruiser. The cop car robot made a vicious growl before lashing out and grabbing Reno, who let out a loud yelp as he was yanked up into the air. He swore he was going to piss his pants if this kept happening to him. He clutched tightly on the robot's hand, yelling out loudly as he was rushing up through the air.

Then the robot let go, throwing him up into the sky.

"OH SHIT!" exclaimed Reno as went sailing up into the air. His nerves were shot to hell, especially when he heard a jet's engine.

Barely having time to look, he saw an F-16 swooping down towards him, and it was somewhat transformed into another robot. It didn't look very friendly at all as it came very close to slamming into him, a metallic claw stretching out for him.

WHAM!

A metal swung upward and punched the nose of the jet, sending it flying off course and away from Reno. The jet made such a nasty screech as it went flying in a different direction. But Reno wasn't really paying much attention to it as gravity now pulled at him and he started to fall with arms waving every where. He didn't even have time to cry out as he turned a little to see where he was going.

Reno didn't get very far at all as another metallic hand snatched him carefully out of the air, and he soon found himself close to a metal torso of another giant robot. This one was military green and it had some kind of gun shooting after the jet as it crouched a little to avoid a missile zooming over it's head. Bright blue quickly dropped down onto the human, looking him quickly over for injuries before its head jerked up again as the Audi R 8 robot was now rushing towards it. It didn't get very far though as two more robots jumped into the path.

"Hound! Get him out of here! We'll take care Sideways!" The electric blue robot shouted before punching an arm outward and began blasting at the silver Decepticon trying to attack them.

The green robot, Hound just nodded as he turned sharply to bolt away only to come to a sudden stop as the black and white Police Cruiser lunged towards him. He barely had time to raise his blaster cannon to defend himself before Ironhide suddenly leapt into his path and slammed his elbow across Barricade's head, knocking him off of his feet.

That only helped a little but not enough to stop Ravage from speeding towards Hound in his motorcycle form and lunging at him in mid transformation. The savage feline like Decepticon landed on Hound's upper back, clawing at his head as its weight knocking him off balance and came crashing down to the ground. Hound let out a painful grunt as he began swinging an arm to knock the Decepticon off of him. It didn't help too much as Ravage began living up to his name and slicing at his armor, leaving very nasty gashes across his back. Grunting again, Hound looked at the panicking human in his fist before releasing him to throw out a hand to catch Ravage by the neck.

"RUN!" The Camo officer yelled at the human, nodding for him to take off.

Reno didn't need to be told twice as he bolted away from the robot, looking back only a few times to watch the giant robot who saved his life wrestle with the felinish mech. He looked around quickly, noting that there were several battles going on at once. Then he saw Mikaela pull up in his jeep and he bolted for that.

Mikaela stood up in the driver's seat, looking wildly for her uncle and spotted him as he was racing for her. She felt some relief to see him doing all right. She could see a pretty nasty cut above his eyes but otherwise, he was alive. "Uncle Reno! Come on!" She screamed for him, waving for him.

Reno almost made it to the jeep.

Before he could get five feet away from it, the jet was back, slamming into the ground between him and the jeep. The vicious robot it turned into snarled at Reno like an animal, causing him stumble back and trip over his own feet until he came crashing down onto the ground.

It towered over him for only a moment before turning its head around to look at Mikaela, who looked just as startled. She was clutching onto the door, looking up at it before she shrieked as it lashed out and grabbed her from the jeep's driver side.

"Mikaela!" Reno yelled out as he scampered to his feet and started to rush at the robot. He knew it was a stupid idea to try and attack the robot like he was going to but he couldn't let this thing hurt his neice. The Decepticon just lashed out his other hand and snatched up Reno, holding him rather tightly. A little too tight for his comfort. Reno let out a grunt of pain as the robot's hands tightened around him, making it very difficult for him move. His eyes snapped over to Mikaela, who was trying to wriggle free before yelping out in pain as the Decepticon did the same to her. "Mikaela!" He called over to her.

"Uncle Reno!" Mikaela yelped before wincing as the Decepticon tightened its fist around her. She glared at him before slamming a fist helplessly against the metal. "Look out, Decepticon! Here comes trouble for you!"

The Decepticon just snorted before his optics flashed and he tried to jerk around only to get a small fury of metal slamming into his face.

Blaster, of all Autobots, had jumped away from Mirage's invisiblity cloak and lunged to attack Thundercracker. He had seen Mikaela in trouble and decided to intervene. He knew he couldn't do too much to help her but he had to try. And it worked enough to his advantage. He had temporarily blinded Thundercracker to dropping Mikaela and Reno, who landed pretty roughly on the rocky floor before Mirage came to help him fight off the Seeker.

Mikaela yelped as she landed hard on her back, coughing a little from the air being knocked from her lungs. But she knew she didn't have very much time before another Decepticon showed up to attack. "Uncle Reno!" She cried out airlessly as she quickly climbed to her feet and half limped, half ran over to her uncle. She could see he had a tougher time getting up after landing so hard onto his side. "Uncle Reno! We have got to get out of here!" She told him as she grabbed his arm and tried to make him stand up.

"Mikaela!" She heard Sam yell and she looked up to see him, Will Lennox and Robert Epps were rushing into the heat of battle. The American Soldiers had a high powered rifle in his hands and was taking off shots at the Decepticons before joining the two to racing towards Mikaela and Reno Banes.

And once again, a Decepticon jumped into the path, stomping hard against the ground to interfere. The three humans scampered back to avoid getting hurt but looked wildly at Mikaela and Reno, who was looked wide eyed up at the Silver Audi R 8 as it reached for them.

Suddenly, Spitfire was there, sliding in between Sideways and the two humans, her metal palm lashing out and smashing against Sideways' face, knocking him backwards. Her nearly white blue optics were flashing angrily as she lunged forward for another attack, shooting off her blaster gun. Her blasts nailed Sidways in the chest, knocking him further away from the humans before she was twirling in a graceful circle and kicking him hard, knocking him off his feet.. She didn't stop there but lunged on top of him lashing out a fist and hitting him several times before he had the chance to throwing her off of him. He was on his feet very quickly, as she was. They faced each other, looking ready to charge again.

But the thing that stopped him was Bumblebee quickly joining Spitfire's side, his blaster raised as he nearly stood between the Decepticon and his former best friend. He looked almost like he was protecting her. Spitfire was a little surprised but not as surprised as she was when Hot Rod was suddenly there, standing next to her, with his own blaster raised and his protective visor down over his optics.

"Decepticons! Retreat! We have failed the objective to capturing the human!" Thundercracker yelled before blasting off into the air. Sideways growled, along with Ravage before they too were racing off in the same direction as the F-16 was going. Barricade had already taken off when the other Autobots showed up. He knew better than to stick around.

Soon, it was just the Autobots in the field, along with a handful of human soldiers. Optimus had arrived at the last minute but he was just relieved that the Decepticons didn't keep up the fight. They had left before anyone could get seriously hurt. He wasn't sure though. Transforming, he surveyed the area quickly before looking to where Mikaela was with her uncle, who was motionless. He took a few short steps before he was towering over them, looking at the human with concern. It didn't take too long for Ratchet to get there and start scanning Reno Banes. But by the light sigh from the medic, he knew that the danger was adverted.

"It's all right. He suffers no serious injuries. Just a bump on the head and a spranged ankle from falling but he will be fine. He's just unconscious. I believe there may be some shock but it's not serious." The medic informed everyone.

Mikaela sighed with relief before looking at her uncle's face, shaking her head. "Damn it. I kind of wanted to avoid him getting involved with this." She murmured but smiled gently as she brushed her uncle's hair out of his face.

Lennox was still scanning the sky just like Ironhide was doing but he shook his head as he made a quick glance down at Reno. "We better get him back to the base and tell Simmons he'll need to come up with another excuse about what happened in town." He suggested.

Optimus nodded in agreement before looking around at the others, nodding his approval. He, like everyone, stopped his optics on Spitfire, who was somewhat un-nerved that Bumblebee was so close to her. She was drawing away but she stopped when everyone looked at her. She looked more like a deer caught in headlights. Mirage was growling but he hadn't moved to attack her like he would normally would. He knew better than to do it. He had read up the report about what was inside of her.

Spitfire glanced at Bumblebee again, who was watching her with some concern before she shook her head and turned her optics back onto Optimus. "Forgive me, sir. I know you didn't want me to leave the base but I couldn't stand by and do nothing. I wanted to help." She said, bowing her head in respect to him, but awaiting some form of punishment.

However, Optimus just shook his head as he stepped over to her and lightly patted her shoulder, surprising her. "And help you did. If you had not intervened, Sideways probably would have harmed Mikaela and Reno Banes. Therefore, you won't be punished for defying my orders for you to stay at the base." He paused to look around at the others, noting their reactions. He was only satisfied to see that no one really was reacting at all. Ironhide had rolled his optics but he didn't looked pissed about Spitfire being there. The ones who looked the most angry was Mirage and Hot Rod but they weren't going to contradict his words about 'The Traitor.'

Bumblebee, however, looked very relieved as he stared at Spitfire, who had looked back at him. He was just glad she wasn't in too much trouble. She had mixed feelings about him being near her but in the end, she lightly shrugged at him, her optics a little soft.

"Autobots, let us return to the base." Optimus told everyone, watching as some of them were already transforming into their alter forms. "We should probably prepare for another outburst from Agent Simmons and Agent Banachek. Hound, I think you should probably take a new form. I don't think Reno Banes is going to be particulary happy when he finds out that his vehicle had just been smashed with your fight against Barricade."

Hound chuckled as he looked over at the smashed up jeep almost sheepish. "Heh, heh. Opps." He remarked.

Mikaela just groaned as she allowed Ratchet to take her uncle into his custody. She just knew that Reno was going to bitch about his jeep getting damaged. But like everyone else, she was wondering why the Decepticons had attacked her uncle in the first place. What had they wanted from him?


	14. Readjusting

The first thing that came to Reno Banes' mind as he stirred from his sleep was, 'What in the hell just happened to me?'

The second thing that came to his mind when he felt a dull pain in his head and leg was "Ow!" He even vocalized it.

Finally coming to, Reno felt his head practically hammering at him, causing him to groan as he just laid where ever he was laying, touching his pounding head. He felt like he had just gotten run over by a truck three times. He didn't really recall what happened to him. All he knew was that he had some vivid dream about cars turning into giant robots and then darkness. Nothing really made sense so it had to be some kind of sci-fi dream.

"Uncle Reno."

His eyes fluttering a little when he heard Mikaela's voice before he actually did open them to see her pretty face sitting above him, dabbing his sore forehead with a cold wet rag. He groaned a little before closing his eyes. "Hot damn, Mickey. If I'm dead, you are definitely an angel, ya know that. What'd I do, fall down the stairs again?" He groaned as he reached up and touched the side of his head.

Mikaela had to lightly laugh and roll her eyes as she sat back in the chair next to his cot. She paused to glance over at Ratchet's human form as he just stood there, looking at some of the printed out test results, though he did spare a glance at her. She shrugged at him before looking back at her uncle. "Something like that. You okay now?" She asked, gently.

Reno's answer was a light groan as he just dipped his head back against the pillow it resting on. He laid there for a moment before opening his eyes and looking into his niece's bright blue gaze. "I had the weirdest dream, Mick. I dreamed that I got kidnapped by a cop car and then it turned into some weird ass robot. Damn morphine. It sure likes to mess with my head." He groaned wincing again as he reached up and touched the torn skin above his eye. "Ow."

The teen girl was trying not to laugh. She had caught the idea that Reno had thought that what he'd been through was all a dream. Boy, was he going to get a reality check and heavy. "Really, Uncle Reno? Well..." She paused biting her lip, trying to think of how she was going to come out and say it. She didn't know what to tell him. If he had thought it was all a dream, then was there really a point to tell him everything about the Autobots? This was her chance to get him out before he got in. If she could get him out of the entire situation, he might be safe from the Decepticons. But then again, they had attacked him for some reason. No one really knew why just yet. But they would eventually find out, that is if Optimus could talk Mirage into Blaster try to go undercover.

Just then the door opened and in came the hazardous in waiting. Simmons didn't look too happy but he was starting to get used to the fact that people were entering the secret of the Autobots every where. "Hey, Criminal Girl, you finally talk to him about the Autobots...?" He was saying. He didn't get to finish though.

Because as soon as he called Mikaela that, Reno bolted up into a sitting position and was glaring at the agent. He didn't know who this guy was but he knew that he must have been talking about Mikaela's criminal record by calling her a criminal. "Hey! Do you want me to bust your head open, Suit?!" He growled as he tried to shove the medical blanket off of him. "Call Mikaela a criminal again and I will...!"

Mikaela quickly grabbed his arm and help him back from getting off the bed. "Uncle Reno, don't!" She told him though she was glaring at Simmons, herself. Well, there went her plan of getting her uncle out of the loop.

Ratchet then let out a long sigh as he tapped his clipboard and looked directly at Simmons. "Agent Simmons, up until now, Mr. Banes hadn't remembered what had happened to him. He is still unaware of where we are. Nor does he know who I am." He remarked, knowing very well what Mikaela had wanted from the beginning.

Simmons actually looked embarrassed. "What?" He and Reno said with a frown.

Rolling her eyes, Mikaela looked at her uncle, shaking her head. She knew she better start slow with him. Starting fast would make him even more confused. And if he knew her uncle, he had the tendacy to faint when getting a sudden shock, which was exactly what he had done after being rescued by the Autobots. "Uncle Reno, there's something I have to tell you." She told him before digging into her purse and pulling out her cell phone. She glanced at Ratchet, almost asking something of him.

Ratchet seemed to understand by looking into her bright blue eyes before going over to Simmons and leading him out of the rather large medic bay while explaining exactly what Reno's case was.

"Who the hell were those guys?" Reno asked frowning as he watched the two men leave. "Where in the hell are we?"

Another sigh escaped from Mikaela before she shook her head and began scrolling through her pictures. She had an idea of where she should start, while helping him climb off the medical bed. She just hoped that he wouldn't freak out. "Uncle Reno, what do you remember before you blacked out?" She asked him carefully.

There was a long pause as Reno looked directly at her, frowning as he let her words settle in. He looked very confused as he stared off but there was some form of bewilderment in his eyes as he recalled everything. "In all honesty, Mick, I don't know. I'm not even sure what the hell happened to me." he then frowned and gave her a serious look. "Speaking of which, where the hell were you for the past two days, Mikaela?! Your mother called me and told me that there was some kind of gas explosion near Benton Street in Tranquility! She's been freaking out left and right cause she can't get a hold of you! I've called the cops, every where! Where the hell were ya?" He demanded.

Mikaela paused for a moment before grimacing. She couldn't believe it. She had been so caught up with everything she was going through that she had forgotten give her mother some excuse of where she was and what she was doing. "Damn it." She groaned before shaking her head as she stood up and moved slightly towards the door. "I'll give her a call after I'm done explaining things to you." She sighed impatiently when her uncle rose an eyebrow at her. "I promise."

"You better, Mikaela. Your mother has been through so much for the past few years." Reno told her as he reached up and rubbed his sore head again, wincing a little. "Now, where the hell were you? And what were you doing?"

Heaving a very impatient sigh, Mikaela thrust her phone towards him, showing him the picture she had pulled up on it. It was of her and Sam sitting on top of the hood of Bumblebee, both smiling as their picture was taken. Her uncle's response was only a confused look before he looked at her. "This picture was taken about a week after something serious happened, Uncle Reno. It's really hard to explain but you have got to promise you won't freak out. No panicking, no running around yelling out for some kind of help, no yelling at me for what happened to your jeep." She told him, wincing.

That had Reno's attention. "My jeep?! What happened to my jeep?!" He asked, almost rushed.

The only answer he got from his niece was a shake of the head before she turned the phone back around and scrolling to another picture. She showed it to him again and this really got his attention as she started to lead him out of the Medical bay. The picture was enough to distract him from looking around.

It was a picture of several very nice vehicles. Reno's jaw dropped a little as he felt his breath catch as he took the phone from her and looked at it more closely. He couldn't help but admire the large, bad ass looking Semi Truck, the smooth but very intimidating and large black GMC truck with huge smoke pipes sticking out from behind the cab. Even the lime green Search and Rescue Hummer was nice.

"Whoa! Now that's what I call cars, Mickey! Where did you see these things?"

Mikaela had to smile as she watched him. It was almost funny of how some guys could act when they see very nice vehicles. Some reactions were hilarious. But again, she frowned with a gentle sigh. "Scroll down to the next picture, Reno." She told him.

Glancing at her, Reno frowned before doing so. And he nearly dropped the phone from jumping. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Ah...Mickey, this picture you took...is that...is that something you made from Photoshop? Because that's pretty cool." Reno said, though he sounded very uncertain about what he was looking at.

Mikaela knew what picture he was looking at. She wished that she could just tell him that it was all a joke for him. But she couldn't. "No, Uncle Reno. What you're seeing is real. That is the Secretary of Defense, John Keller standing at the feet of the Leader of the Autobots. His name is Optimus Prime." She told him. "I probably shouldn't have taken that picture but Ratchet told me that it was safe. He said that..."

"Mikaela," Reno simply said as he looked up from the phone. "This picture is pretty cool looking. But you're expecting me to believe that you didn't do this in Photoshop? That giant robot thing looks like some Japanese toy." He told her, almost seriously.

Rolling her eyes, Mikaela snatched her phone away from him and shook her head. "If you said that to Ironhide, he'd probably find some excuse to shooting you. Either that or he'll step on you and say that it was an accident."

"Mikaela, quit playing around." Reno told her, almost scolding her.

Impatiently, Mikaela grabbed Reno's arm and nearly dragged him down the hall towards the Hangar where she knew she would find at least one of the Autobots. She had wanted to let him on lightly but now, she changed her mind. She just hoped that it would be one of the more mild tempered Autobots that was there.

"Uh..." Reno finally muttered when he got a good look at his surroundings. "Mick, where are we?"

For a long time, Mikaela didn't answer. She just dragged him after her, heading past Soldiers, who watched her and her uncle, who, himself, looked very uneasy. He was starting to get the idea that he was in a military facility. "Mikaela, where are we?" He asked again, almost rushed.

A short pause then Mikaela slowed down and looked up into his eyes, almost sympathetically. "Reno, you're in a secret military base that is hidden within the Hoover Dam, where there is...well, a secret with more secrets that you just don't read from The Da Vinci Code. It's really hard for me to explain to you so I think I'll just leave that up to Optimus." She told him, only getting a more confused stare. Then they stepped into the hangar, where there were some of the Autobots.

Fortunately, they were in their vehicle modes with their holographic image forms just standing around talking to the military men. Optimus was near his large Semi body, talking to a rather disgruntled Secretary Keller and explaining what was going on.

But all communication stopped when Mikaela lead her uncle into the hangar.

Mikaela hesitated only for a moment before looking up at her uncle. She wasn't surprised to see that the first thing he did was gawk at the several vehicles. His eyes almost bugged as he looked straight at the blue and red semi truck, to the violent purple and dark silver 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder sitting right next to it. And next to that was the monster of a black GMC Topkick truck His eyes traveled to the lime green Search and Rescue truck, which the doctor from before was standing in front of, somewhat scolding some young man. Reno did not miss the 2009 Chevy Camaro that belonged to Mikaela's boyfriend, nor did he miss Trent DeMarco's electric blue Porsch. He wasn't surprised to Mikaela's Retro though sitting next to it, but he was surprised to see a very gorgeous, bright blue eyed and dark haired knockout sitting on it, having quite an unpleasant conversation with a beach boy sort of guy who was attempting to flirt with her. But like almost everyone, they stopped to look over at Mikaela's uncle.

Sam was already hurrying over to greet them with an uncertain Trent and a widely smiling Elena Lincoln right behind him. They tried to give Reno a smile but they were very uncertain about the outcome that they were about to face.

"Hey...erm, Reno." Sam tried before wincing when he sounded a little stupid. He looked at Mikaela. "Uh, does he...?" His answer was her shaking her head as she watched her uncle in annoyance as he walked right past the teens and marched right up to the colorful Semi Truck.

"No. He thinks he was hallucinating and he thinks the picture of Optimus with Secretary Keller was made from Photoshop." Mikaela grumbled, her arms folding across her chest before she followed after her uncle.

Everything around Reno seemed kind of lost while he was looking the Semi Truck over with amazement. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen a lot of Semi Trucks in his time but none like this. It was huge for a Peterbilt but very, very nice. "Oh, god. This..." Reno breathed with a growing smile. He didn't even seem to notice the man standing a little aways, looking a little uncomfortable.

Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena, however, had to crack smiles as they watched Reno actually reach over and touch the side of Optimus, looking him over with amazement. "Uncle Reno, I believe you're making Optimus a little uneasy." Mikaela told him.

Reno didn't really seem to hear her as he circled the Semi, looking it over before coming back to the front. "God, Mickey. This is the most beautiful Semi I've ever seen. Who in the hell designed this Baby?" He asked.

Several snorts of laughter erupted from some of the human formed Autobots and even some of the American Soldiers. Even Keller seemed amused as he stepped forward with Optimus. He decided he should get Reno Banes' attention. "He did." He said, motioning to the Autobot Leader's Holo form. And it worked to getting the new arrival's attention. Reno looked very surprised to see the United States' Secretary of Defense. In fact, he looked very flabbergasted. Keller just smiled forcily at him as he straighted. "Mr. Reno Banes, I'm not entirely sure of how much your niece just told you but by the look on her face, you're not listening to her." He told her.

Reno just stared at the Secretary for a moment before he looked at Mikaela, almost as if someone was pulling a joke on him. "Mick, that picture. Can I see it again?" He asked slowly.

Mikaela gave him a tight smile before looking over at Optimus with a low sigh. "Optimus, maybe you should explain. He's having a little bit difficulty believing me." She told him, almost wearily. She knew that whatever she was going to say it would only confuse her uncle even more.

Optimus smiled faintly before looking at Reno, meeting his gaze. He could only shake his head as took a few steps towards him. "There is no easier way of saying this, Reno Banes. But the world you lived in before you became involved with us is more different than you expect. Do you recall the police car from yesterday?" He asked in a friendly way.

By the look on Reno's face, it took a moment for him to recall it before his mouth fell open. He now looked as if he had been slapped in the face. Especially when his Jeep just drove into the room all on his own. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was no driver in his jeep. And it had immediately stopped as if sensing his eyes on it, looking almost sheepish. "Wha-?! My Jeep?!" He asked, before looking at Mikaela.

"Not really, Uncle Reno." Mikaela remarked, frowning. "Your Jeep...kind of got totalled. It's really hard to explain, but that's Hound. And that cop car, Barricade, tried to kidnap you."

"What? Mickey, what are you talking about?" Reno asked, though he looked like something was starting to dawn on him. He was starting to get the idea of what she was trying to say. But he didn't know if he actually wanted to hear it.

"Jeez, Mikaela. Why don't you just lay it on him all ready? What she's trying to tell ya is that we're alien robots."

That definitely had some outbursts as everyone turned sharply around to see the one thing that Reno was not exactly ready for. Mikaela especially looked like she was going to start yelling at someone. Reno, however, turned around with a frown before freezing. He had to crane his neck a little to see what stood in the door way of the hangar but it was clear that he was stunned. Who wouldn't be if there were two 18 and 19 foot alien robot twins just standing there, grinning down at everyone.

"SLAG IT! DON'T YOU TWO EVER STOP TRYING TO SCARE PEOPLE?!" Ironhide's rough voice exclaimed from the large GMC Topkick.

Even Optimus sighed and shook his head, as well as the Semi Truck let out a long hiss as if releasing its brakes. Then the Holographic Moleculer form vanished in thin air before there was a click as the truck began to shift and move. Reno whirled around and stared at it with shock as the Leader of the Autobots transformed and stood up to his full height before looking straight at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, I thought I made it clear to you two that we were to let him know slowly."

The twins just snorted at the same time and shook their heads. "He wasn't listening to her, Optimus. He thought it was some kind of joke she was pulling. So we sped things up a little." Sideswipe said as he folded his arms across his chest.

Sunstreaker nodded as he looked down at the human, who stared up at them with shock. He had to smirk a little though. Some human expressions were funny to watch appearing on their little faces. "By the looks of it, he's shocked."

"No. You think, Sunstreaker?" growled Ratchet's human form before he flickered out of view and made his own transformation.

"Holy...Hannah..." Reno muttered as he looked nearly straight up at Optimus before his breath began to speed up and he stepped back. He looked as if he was going to have a panic attack. "Mikaela...!"

Mikaela grabbed his arm and held onto him as she glared up at the twins before looking at him. "Uncle Reno, It's going to be okay. They don't mean any harm. You have got to trust me on this." She had to give him a light tug to get him to look at her eyes so she could reassure him better. She knew better than to let him go into some form of shock. She knew her uncle was a fainter when it came to pushing the high limits. "Reno, they are called the Autobots and they are here to protect Earth from their enemies, the Decepticons! They won't harm us in any way! It's against their laws" She told him carefully.

Reno stared at her for a moment before looking up at Optimus again, gripping his neice's arm. "So...these guys...what are they?" He asked uneasily. "Some kind of military experiement?" He stepped back when the twins gave a light growl but they immediately stopped when a very large and grumpy black GMC Topkick transformed and heated up his cannons towards them.

"No. They are Cybertronians. Alien robots from some planet eons away from Earth. It's called Cybertron." Sam spoke up, making Reno look at him. "It's kind of hard to explain but they came to Earth to protect us from the Decepticons, who came here to destroys us. There are two different fractions of Cybertronians. The Autobots, them. They believe in the good of people and have chosen to protect Earth from being destroyed for something they call Energon. Or something like that. The Decepticons kind of just want to destroy us. Maybe enslave us. They came here looking for some kind of giant cube called the All Spark. It was their power source, their way of life. It was the only thing that could bring back their Planet Cybertron back to life because it was dying after years and years of wars going on between the Autobots and the Decepticons."

Reno took in the information before looking up at Optimus again as he stood in the middle of all of the now transformed cars; minus the Jeep. Hound had yet to transform. He seemed to have wanted to break it to him slowly that his car had been smashed up because of him. "So...don't you have it yet? How long are you planning on staying?" He asked, still very uneasy.

"Uncle Reno!" Mikaela scolded.

But some of the Autobots looked more amused than offended. Slowly and carefull, Optimus bent down to one knee before the humans and looked at Reno. "We cannot possess the All Spark, for it has been destroyed while fighting the Decepticons in Mission City a year ago." He explained.

Realization dawned on Reno a little and his mouth fell open. He had remembered hearing about that on the news. But no giant robots had been mentioned. "Oh. So you guys are responsible for ripping up that city." He shook his head a little. "Okay. So you're power source was destroyed. And...that makes you very angry, right?"

Sighing impatiently, Mikaela rolled her eyes and folded her arms. She knew where he was going with this and couldn't believe him. "Uncle Reno, they won't hurt us. They are not pissed off about the All Spark being destroyed. There wasn't really much of a choice anyway with the Leader of the Decepticons getting ready to smash Sam because he had the All Spark at the time. Sam was the one who destroyed it by putting it into Megatron's chest and killing him."

"Hey." Sam said, almost pouting because he was being accused. He shut up pretty fast when Mikaela gave him a look.

Still, Reno nodded, taking in the information. "Okay. So...why are you still here then? If the All Spark was destroyed...what's there here for you to stay?" He asked, trying to grasp the fact that he was talking to a giant alien robot.

"The Decepticons." Ratchet spoke up, catching Reno's attention.

Mirage nodded as he folded his arms, letting Blaster just sit on his shoulder like a pet monkey. In truth, they looked very well like the sort. "The Decepticons are still here on Earth. We stay here because they do. And they will keep coming to destroy your planet in rage of what happened to Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons. We still have the remains of that tyrant and they are after them." He said, pausing only for a minute to shoot a glare at Spitfire who had chose this time to enter the hangar. She returned the look but then chose to ignore him as she looked down at Reno.

Slowly, Reno nodded. "Okay. Starting to catch on. But...what did that cop car want from me then?" He asked still very uneasy.

No one spoke for a long moment. No one could answer that because no one knew. They had their ideas but they weren't entirely sure if it was accurate. And for that long moment, Reno began to realize that they didn't know.

But then Spitfire stepped forward. "I might have an idea." She explained.

All eyes and optics shot towards her, almost surprised but some few; Mirage and Hot Rod for two, started to growl at her. That definitely earned a raised eyebrow from Reno Banes as he stood confused. Optimus stood up straight and faced Spitfire, looking at her almost gently. "Spitfire? Your theory?" He asked quietly.

"You have the remaining piece of the All Spark, Optimus Prime, sir." Spitfire said, her head tilting as she looked at him with concern. "I don't know if it's true or not, but the Decepticons are probably deciding to attack the families of your human allies. My only guess could be that they had planned on taking Reno Banes hostage until you surrendered it to them. They might even try doing it to Trent DeMarco's family or even Elena's." That had Elena and Trent both making a sound of horror as it dawned on them a little. "The point that I'm trying to get at is, there are two ways of bringing Megatron back to life. There's me and then there's the All Spark shard. It must have only enough power to bring Megatron back for them to do something like this."

Trent then moved forward, looking up at her before looking around at the others. "Wait! The Decepticons would go after our families?!" He asked, with worry.

Optimus glanced down at him before nodding. "The Deceptions probably would. If they went after Mikaela's relative," He paused to drop his optics onto a still confused looking Reno. "Reno Banes, then they probably will try to do the same with The DeMarco and The Lincoln Family. Therefore, with Secretary Keller's permission, as well as the U.S's, I will have several of my people watch over them." He looked over at Mirage. "Mirage, I will place you on watch of Trent's family. In the mean time, Blaster, you will keep open frenquencies with Teletraan and try to locate all Decepticons and find out what they are up to." He told the pair.

Mirage straightened sharply almost like the soldier he was and nodded. A few smiles quirked up when Blaster mimicked him, giving them the idea of "Monkey See, Monkey Do" routine with the small Autobot. "Yes, Prime Sir! We will do as you have ordered." He stated.

"Hey, I'm gonna go wit' ya." Epps spoke up, getting a rather irritated look from the serious soldier. But all he did was shake his head and point up at the Autobot. "Don't look at me like that, man. You're still new on Earth and haven't had much contact with humans. If Trent's 'rents catch you sneaking around their place, they might just call the cops and try to have you impounded for tresspassing on their property. With me, you got a better excuse to tell them."

Trent made a face before nodding. "Yeah. I think he's got a point. If my dad sees Mirage, he's going to try to get him impounded or something. The best excuse that Epps can tell him is that he's from the Football camp." He shrugged when the American Soldier gave him a raised eyebrow. "Well, you look like the kind of guy who plays football. You tell him that you play football and he's gonna like you enough to leave you alone." He told him.

"All 'ight. I'll go wit' that." Epps said before looking up at Mirage. "Ya in?"

Mirage surely didn't look entirely happy but glancing at Optimus, who nodded, he turned away. "Fine. I will agree with your terms, Sergeant Epps. Let's roll out then." He said before bending down and transforming into his Spyder form.

Epps grinned as he made his way over to the violent purple and silver car, winking at Lennox. "Tell ya what. He might not be people friendly or anything, but he's got great taste in cars. I kinda always wanted to drive a Spyder." He said chuckling. His remark made quiet a few people smile and shake their heads as they watched Mirage growl his engine a little before allowing Epps to approach his driver's side.

But instead of opening the door, his holoform flickered on, revealing a rather rough, darkly tanned man sitting there. Mirage's human form was nearly built the same as Ironhide's, only he had buzz cut short black hair. He was a tough looking guy, rough as nails. He was wearing a dark tanned shirt and black jeans as well as two black leather wristlets around his wrists. His pencil thin black eyebrow arched a little while he smirked at Epps, who started to scowl. "Sorry, man. I drive." He simply said.

"Aw, damn it." Epps muttered before going around to the passenger side. He shot Lennox a dark look when he started to laugh at him. "Shut up, Will!" And then he got in. Everyone watched as Mirage and Epps took off in a hurry, wanting to get to their mark before the Decepticons decided to pull something while they weren't there yet.

But as soon as they were gone, Elena moved forward, tilting her head back to look all the way up at Optimus' face. She looked very worried about her family and rightfully so she was. "Optimus, what about my family?" She asked, wonderingly.

Spitfire moved forward a step, lifting her head up as she looked right at the Autobot Leader. "Please, Optimus Prime, sir. Allow me to be the one to go guard Elena's family." She implored of him.

"Slag, no." Hot Rod said suddenly giving her a sharp look. "We shouldn't even be letting her roaming around. What if she still works for the Decepticons?! Now I know I wasn't the only one who heard her call Ol' Screamer by a different name. What was it?" He asked, glancing away before looking back at her sharply. "Oh, yeah. Didn't you call him Star?" He snorted when Spitfire glared at him for only a moment before looking away. "Sounds like a pet name. What, were...?"

"Leave her alone, Rod." Bumblebee finally spoke up, coming to her defense.

Hot Rod looked sharply at the young Scout, as if scolding him. "Bumblebee, don't defend her! She betrayed us! She betrayed you too! She sold us out to save herself! I don't believe her that she was trying to protect you, Bee...!"

"Well I do." Bumblebee interupted, his optics flashing and he started to growl.

Ironhide let out a long, growling sigh before looking impatiently at Optimus who sighed himself as he shook his head. Like the Autobot Leader, the Weapon Specialist was getting tired of listening to the same thing over and over again. He didn't trust Spitfire any more than Hot Rod did but he didn't condemn her either. It was the Prime's decision. "That's enough!" He barked at him, now moving in between Hot Rod and Spitfire. "Rod! Shut that slaggin' mouth of yours! Get off of Spitfire's back!" He gave the Spy Changer a look of warning when he looked like he was going to argue. "It's Optimus' decision, not yours, Junior! I don't like her any more than you do, and I heard her call Screamer that too, but if she has to explain herself, then Optimus will tell her too! Keep arguing with me if you disagree." He warned then shot Bumblebee a look. "Bee, don't be so trusting so fast! Hot Rod's got a point! Spitfire could be playing us again!"

Bumblebee glanced over at Spitfire, who looked pretty torn between what to do. "I just don't..."

"Bee, just don't stand up for me. It'll just make things worst." Spitfire interrupted.

Hot Rod huffed loudly as he shared a glare with the Weapon's Officer before jerking his optics away from him, turning slightly away. "I still don't think we should trust her! She called Old Screamer by a pet name! It sounds like...!" He was saying.

Letting out an impatient sigh, Spitfire turned sharply away, and glared towards the wall. "Starscream was my friend when I was with the Decepticons, all right?!" She nearly shouted at Hot Rod, even though she wasn't looking at him.

Her words, however, shut up a lot of people and made all look at her in surprise.

And for a long moment, Spitfire didn't say anything, knowing everyone was watching her. She let out a long sigh and lowered her head. "If I must explain myself, then listen to me, Hot Rod. I am not a Decepticon, nor was I ever. I may have betrayed the Autobots but I also betrayed the Decepticons. But when I left, I had never felt more alone than I was. I was among those who still wanted to destroy me because I was once an Autobot." She turned sharply and gave him a cold look. "Even if I sold the Decepticons the whereabouts of the Autobot Base on Cybertron, they still wanted to destroy me. Starscream was the only one who said I had still had some uses to them. He hated me for some time but even after our fight together, Rod, when I refused to fight you and destroy you, Starscream saw me as an equal. I was a coward. Just like he was, and is." She stood straighter and balled up her fists. "Don't get me wrong, Hot Rod. We hate each other today. But there had been a time I called him a friend and he called me comrade. That's why I called him Star instead of Ol' Screamer. He even offered me to take out the device that would destroy me. He offered me freedom from his device. But it was Megatron who ordered him to keep it on me. He didn't trust me enough to run off without it. Which, I probably would have run off." She said her voice very dark.

"You were friends with that...that..." Sideswipe couldn't find his words but he sounded a little disgusted.

Spitfire gave him a dry look before turning away again. "When alone, even among enemies, one usually looks to the one person who gives you respect. Even if you don't deserve it." She simply said before turning her optics Optimus. "I already swore that I would never betray you again. Please, sir. Let me protect my human's family."

There was a long pause as the Leader of the Autobots studied the once betrayer before he let out low sound before nodding. He would grant her of her request for now. "Very well, Spitfire. A chance to prove yourself again. Protect The Lincoln Family. But you won't be alone. You will be supervised." His optics flashed directly over to, which surprised everyone, Bumblebee. "Bumblebee and Hot Rod. You will accompany Spitfire. Bumblebee, you're most likely to serve as her partner but under Hot Rod's supervision."

"Huh?" Hot Rod asked, though he sounded very surprised. People could have laughed with or at him if it wasn't so serious.

Optimus just nodded as he waved a hand at them. "Hot Rod, if you're so sure that Spitfire is still a betrayer, I will allow you to watch over her. But a word of caution." He said, though very stern. "Don't let your hate for her blind your judgement. She just might be telling the truth." He warned him before looking at Spitfire, who looked rather grateful. "Roll out."

Spitfire nodded her thanks before looking at Elena, who smiled up at her. "Elena, I think it's best if I took you home anyway. You've been away too long and I'm sure that you want to check on your father." She said gently.

Elena nodded, smiling brightly before looking at Sam, Mikaela and Trent. "Come with me. I want you to see my house and meet my father. I know he'd love to meet you." She told them.

Sam, Mikaela and Trent glanced at one another before shrugging and nodding at the same time. Trent, of course, knew his uncle and aunt very well. But he'd figure since he did tell his parents that he was going to be over at The Lincoln Residence, he might as well be there.

"Okay. That sounds cool." Sam said as he wrapped an arm around Mikaela's waist.

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a sec." Reno suddenly spoke up sounding a little uneasy as he looked right at his neice. "What about me? Mickey, you ain't gonna leave me with these guys are ya? I'm still confused, here. And what about your mom? If these Decepti-whatevers are after families, they might go after her too."

Mikaela froze before looking at Sam then over at Optimus for the answer. She knew her uncle had a point. Her mother was just as in danger as the rest of them.

However, before anyone could say anything, Arcee moved forward with a hand raised as she watched her young human. Though, after only a minute she looked up at Optimus. "Sir, I will go and watch over Tricia Banes. I will protect her from any harm that the Decepticons might try to do to her." She stated.

Optimus only nodded. "All right, Arcee. In the mean time," He paused to look over at the metallic green Jeep and beckoned it closer. Hound hesitated for a very long moment, probably not wanting to creep out Reno Banes anymore than he was looking. But then he rolled forward before there was a metallic click and he began his transformation. Everyone watched Reno's reaction as his "Jeep" changed in front of him. And a similar reaction they were very well used to did happen. Reno's jaw fell as he watched with wide eyes as the IT Autobot changed and stood up to his full 20 foot heighth. "Hound, can you think of some idea of what we can do to protect these families better?" The Autobot Leader asked.

Hound only thought for few seconds before shrugging. "The best solution is just to bring them in the loop much like Ron and Judy Witwicky. The American Government can offer them some kind conselation..." He was saying.

Simmons, obviously, didn't like that idea, for he huffed loudly, catching everyone's attention. He moved forward, giving the IT a sharp look for even mentioning it. "Is that always the only solution with you guys? Offer money to people..." He was cut off very sharply by a growl from Ironhide.

"Simmons," Keller spoke up. "Shut up." He looked at Optimus and nodded. "I agree with Hound on this. We can bring The DeMarcos and Mrs. Banes into the loop, offer them something for their silence."

Trent, however, shook his head as he stepped forward, catching everyone's eye. He didn't like this idea at all. Especially bringing his parents into the loop. "No. No, you can't bring them in the loop. Don't." He looked around at everyone paused on Optimus. "My mom might take it well and will agree with any term you might throw at her. But my dad," He shook his head again. "He used to be a football player in High School. He boasts about stuff. I'm not saying that all football players do that. But he does. You tell him a huge secret like this, he's going to boast about it. He hates the Government. He knows that there are secrets that you guys aren't telling everyone. You tell him about the alien robot war that is on earth, he's going to tell everyone else about it." He told them.

Everyone considered his words. And even Elena was nodding in agreement with him as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Uncle Roger won't be the best secret keeper. The best thing you can do is say that he won some kind of contest or something. He likes winning. Every time he loses, he throws this huge fit. Even if it was a fair win."

Trent nodded as he looked at his cousin before looking at Keller. "Yeah. She's got a point. Say that he won a cruise to Alaska or something. Send him somewhere cold. You said that you guys can't take cold very well, right?" He asked.

"No, we can take it." Hound explained. "Space is ten times colder than your Artic Circle. We just keep our coolent systems on to keep ourselves from freezing over. Megatron came crashing down on your planet because of your gravity's magnetic pull. It messed up his system because he just rushed here without pausing to readjust his systems before coming down. That's how he lost control." He told them.

Optimus just nodded as he came up with his own plan and looked down at Secretary Keller. "The best option is what Elena Lincoln has stated. Offer them an Carribbean cruise."

"Huh?" Several people said, looking up at him in confusion.

"Optimus, that's not near any where cold." Lennox stated, frowning.

Hound seemed to have realized what their leader was talking about. His otics brightened as his head came higher and he looked around everyone. "Oh! I see!" He almost smiled brightly. "The Bermuda Triangle. Your kind does not realize it but your legends of the Bermuda Triangle are not completely accurate. It is true that several of your machines of time has disappeared in that area. But it is due to the fact that there is a high density of EMP in that area. Electric Magnetic Pulse It's difficult to explain at this time but I know that the Decepticons will try to avoid that area. Sending them in that area for a week or two will protect your families from our enemies and not even alert them of our presense. It will give them a chance to relax without worrying of any danger. I can get Teletraan to keep an optic on them to make sure there is no danger to their well being."

For a moment, Trent and Mikaela considered this option before glancing at one another. They knew very well that their parents might meet but it might help. So they nodded. Sam also considered it and nodded, himself. "Send my parents with them. That way they will be safe too and they can help keep an eye on them."

"Yeah. That is if our dads don't try to kill each other." Trent remarked, dryly. "Come on, Witwicky. Did it every occur to you that they didn't get along in High School, just like we don't?"

Sam just smiled and shrugged innocently as he folded his hands in front of him. "It'll give them something to do if they get bored. Besides, we could just lie to them and say we've become friends. They might stay off each other's backs." He offered.

Even Mikaela had to scoff at that as she smiled like everyone else. "You two? Admitting to be friends?" She asked, almost skeptically.

"That's kind of a scary thought." Elena said, though she was grinning herself.

Sam and Trent glanced at one another before wide grins spread out on their faces. They seemed to be thinking the exact same thing and even seemed to see past the point of their rivalry a little bit as they both held up fists and bumped each others together. "Let's do it." They said at the same time.

Quite a few people rolled their eyes and shook their heads but Secretary Keller shrugged as he looked over at Simmons and Banachek, giving them a nod. He couldn't think of anything else to do so he would go with it. "All right. Simmons, Banachek, why don't you make preparations for a cruise to the Carribbean." He told them. The two agents just sighed and nodded. They didn't like this but they had their orders.

Reno was staring up at Hound with alarm, which did catch the IT's attention and made him glanced frequently between him and Optimus. He couldn't believe his eyes or his ears. He couldn't believe what situation he was now facing.

Shaking his head, he held up a hand. "Hold on! Wait a damn minute!" He said loudly getting everyone's attention. All eyes and optics looked down at him as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he had a terrible headache. And he was starting to get one with all of this information suddenly rushing at him. He didn't really like it too much because it was too much. "Okay. Okay. Let me see if I get this right. There are several giant alien good guy robots from a different planet on Earth and they've come to protect us, humans from their enemies, more giant alien bad guy robots who has come to destroy our kind. And my niece somehow got mixed up in all of this. And now I am." He dropped his hand and looked over at Mikaela, who looked away from his eyes. "I'm still very confused about all of these robots."

"Uncle Reno," Mikaela said dryly as she folded her arms and looked back into his eyes. "What's so confusing about them? They are giant alien robots from outerspace and they have come here to fight their sworn enemies to protect us. They transform into vehiles or machines as a disguise to hide from the human population because the rest of the world just is not ready to know about them. Does that help a little?"

Reno gave her a stern look before he placed his hands onto his waist and lightly shook his head. He was getting it but he still didn't understand. So he tilted his head and looked way up at Optimus. "Look, Optimus, was it?" He recieved a dipping nod from the giant leader. "That guy, the cop car, the one who grabbed me. And the crazy looking demonic bike that attacked that one," He nodded over to Arcee, who frowned at him as she folded her metallic arms over her chest. "And the jet and the Audi R 8. They're bad guys. You're good guys. I get that. It sounds like kind of Sci-Fi story. And judging by the state I'm in now, this Sci-Fi story just became a reality to me. I'll accept that. But when that Jet bot thing grabbed us, me and Mickey, there was only one thing I was worried about and that was her. My only concern is her wellbeing because she is my neice, my brother's baby girl. She won't get hurt because of you, will she?" He asked, almost darkly.

Mikaela looked at him in disbelief and shook her head. "Uncle Reno! I will be..." She shushed when Reno shot her a look and held up a finger towards her. She was used to him doing that since she was a kid but this was ridiculous. But she didn't argue again because she saw Optimus move a hand over her, almost asking her to keep quiet.

Optimus did silence her with a gentle look before he lowered himself closer to Reno. It surprised a lot of people that Reno stood his ground, allowing the giant robot leader to come so close without flinching away. He was actually taking it very well. Optimus looked directly into Reno's eyes with his glowing optics and shook his head. "On the honor of the First Autobot, Primus, and my spark, I will never let any one of the Decepticons hurt Mikaela, nor anyone that you may care for. Nor will my Autobots. They are well skilled warriors of the battlefield and they are more than able to protect everyone in this base." He told the human before offering his hand to Reno; mostly his finger. "I swear on my own spark."

"Spark?" Reno's only reply to that was.

"His heart, Reno." Sam spoke up, making the Cars Dealer tilt his head towards him but not lift his eyes away from Optimus. "That's what they call their hearts. It's what keeps them going. They might be made out of metal and not flesh and blood, but they are alive in their own ways."

Reno's eyes flickered to the side as if he was going to look at Sam but they quickly looked back up at Optimus before he reached up and placed a hand on the Autobot Leader's large finger, gripping it and seemed to seal some kind of deal with him. "If she gets hurt because of your little spat with these Decepticons, I swear on my heart, you better be able to accept the consequences." He told him, sternly.

"Reno!" Mikaela hissed angrily.

But Optimus seemed to smile and nod at Reno's statement. "Reno Banes," He said, cutting the angered teen girl off before slowly backing away. "You and I seem to be alike in many ways. We will go very far into protecting what is most precious to us. I respect you in the most highest. You would make an excellent Autobot."

Reno's lips quirked upward a little before he straightened and lift his head higher. He then turned around and looked right at Mikaela then at the three Autobots; Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Spitfire, giving them a very stern look. "You heard your leader. Roll out." He stated.

The three glanced at one another, though they seemed rather amused. Even some of the other Autobots snorted as they glanced around at each other. They found Reno's boldness very impressive.

"Hmph. At least he's taking this very well." Ratchet had to remark.

Optimus nodded in agreement before he looked around at everyone, though pausing his optics onto Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Spitfire. "You best be going on your way, you three." He told them.

The three Autobots glanced at one another, though Hot Rod still didn't look pleased that he had to go with Spitfire. But he would get over it for now. The three young Autobots transformed into their alter forms and let the four teens ride in them. Both Sam and Mikaela were going to ride in Bumblebee, as usual while Trent and Elena climbed into the driver's seat of each of their cars. As soon as they were ready, they were off.


	15. Spitfire's Story

It was not easy for Reno Banes to get used to the giant robots roaming around the Hoover Dam military base but he found himself very amused with Hound. The IT robot had gone out of his way just give him a tour around the base and then even show him what he usually did. He introduced him to everyone in the Communications section, which he did have to pause to stare at Maggie as she began to argue with Glenn about how hard she was working. She did have quite a few people worried about her now because she hardly left her station. She wasn't eating very much other than what everyone kept bringing her. She definitely wasn't sleeping.

Ratchet, himself, had showed up and started lecturing her about how she needed some rest but she totally blew him off.

Sunstreaker, much to everyone's surprise, was always hanging around the Communications and watching her. He seemed pretty interested in watching Maggie and her determination into finding her friend. But then again, he said he was bored. No one could blame him for that one. There wasn't much to do in the base. And Optimus didn't want anyone else out roaming around while the four young ones; Bumblebee, Spitfire, Hot Rod and Arcee, and even Mirage were watching over the families of their allies.

Either way, Reno had said his hello to Maggie and Glenn, who both greeted him with waves before going back to their work. After that, he began asking Hound questions about his kind. Nothing more to that. Hound, however, answered with a lot of enthusiasm.

Reno Banes was not the only one who was asking questions though.

On the way to Lincoln's residence, the three young Autobots were driving in a straight line, with Spitfire in the lead. No one had spoken for a long time, other than just listening to the radio. But it seemed that Sam was quite troubled with what had been said before because he eventually reached over and turned down the music. "Bumblebee?" He asked.

There was a light hum from the Camaro before he answered, "Yes, Sam? Is something wrong?" 

Sam just shook his head as he rested his hands on the moving steering wheel, letting it turn in his palm steadily while his automatronic best friend did the driving. He didn't know exactly if what he wanted Bumblebee to do was possible but it was best to ask. "Can you connect with Spitfire so I can ask her something?" He asked his friend again.

Again there was a light pause and the car even gave a very light jerk as if Bumblebee was surprised by the question but then the radio dial began to move on its own and a gentle throbbing came from the speakers. "Go ahead, Sam. I've connected my link with both Spitfire's and Hot Rod's. Ask your question." Bee told Sam.

"What is it?" came Spitfire's voice through the radio.

Sam was quiet for a moment as he reached up with his fist and pressed it to his mouth, thoughtfully. He wasn't sure how he was going to ask Spitfire probably the most painful question but he had to know. So taking a deep breath, he went for it. "Spitfire, can I ask you something? And please don't get mad or upset." He paused waiting.

There was a long pause through the radio before a gentle sigh broke through, obviously Spitfire. "What is your question, Sam?" 

Again, Sam was quiet for a minute before he glanced at Mikaela, who looked pretty interested herself in what he wanted to know about. He let out his own sigh and shook his head. "Spitfire, what happened to you? Before you were forced to betray the Autobots to the Decepticons? I know you said that they forced you to betray them, but what I don't get is what happened? And why...what happened between you and Starscream if you guys became friends? I mean, I've met the guy. He is totally not very friendly. So how did you even consider him a friend?" He asked carefully.

There came a light hum as if Spitfire was smiling at his remark about Starscream before she went quiet again. She didn't answer for a very long time as she thought about his question. But then the Lotus Elise began to pull off the road onto a more empty one. The two male Autobots hesitated but then followed after her. Spitfire lead Bumblebee and Hot Rod through the empty road until she came to an empty train yard. It was here that she pulled into an empty warehouse and then stopped, waiting for the other two to join her. Once all three of them were in, she backed up, bumping the doors shut before opening her door for Elena to climb out.

Bumblebee and Hot Rod hesitated again before doing the same, letting Sam, Mikaela and Trent climb out and join Elena to the side as they watched the three transform and stand up. However, all eyes and optics were on Spitfire as she glanced each one of them over before turning her head away.

"If you really must know, I will tell you. But please, do not judge me so wrongly. Even after I'm done with my explanation. As I said, I had been forced to betray the Autobots by the threat of Bumblebee being destroyed." She paused to let her optics flicker over to the yellow and black Scout before tearing them away. She looked rather ashamed at that part. "It's a long story but I'll try to edit it to being short. But before I betrayed the Autobots, we were at battle with the Decepticons...

Explosions rocked the battlefield as mechs fought against mechs in the chaotic battle, all fighting for their own beliefs. It was an additional terrible battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. The war was growing worst day by day. Many mechs had fallen to the ruthless battles. And the numbers were growing as each battle went on. 

Spitfire was growing weary of the battle, but she kept up her courage and her will to fight as long as she stood beside her best friend, Bumblebee. She was back to back with him, blasting any Decepticon in sight. It was fighting beside him that gave her the will to continue this war. Since they became friends, she had sworn a long time ago that she would do anything to protect him. They had grown very close over the many years of fighting along side each other for the Autobot side. They both admired their leader, Optimus Prime so greatly, even before he became the Prime. They had both known that he would become the next Prime after Sentinel. A lot of the Autobots had known. Optimus Minor had been a leader before he became Optimus Prime. 

Together, Spitfire and Bumblebee had made a great team while fighting Decepticons. They would tag team each other and beat the living metal out of any Decepticon they had come across. They did it together, and it made them both rather happy in the terrible war. They helped each up keep a positive attitude and even helped the others. 

But all of it had to come to a screeching end. 

As the two friends fought side by side against Decepticons, a massive Decepticon by the name of Devastor had been smashing Autobots left and right, slamming them into the walls. It as a giant of a Decepticon, though made from several Decepticons called the Constructicons fused together. It was a deadly card that the Decepticons held and very effective, which was why many Autobots were trying to take it down before it caused too much damage. 

Several Seekers were in the sky, fighting their enemies and shooting deadly energon missiles at their ground enemies, causing many explosions. Most of the Seekers were Decepticons but even so, the Autobots had the Legendary Seeker, Jetfire on their side, and he was doing very well to fighting the Decepticons. He was not a legend for nothing. Even if it was nearly ten against one. He was faster than any of the other Seekers, though the Second in Command of the Decepticons, Starscream could nearly keep up with him. 

And that was what went wrong for Bumblebee and Spitfire. 

Several missiles shot by the Seekers missed their targets and slammed into the ground near the battling Autobots and Decepticons. Two bounced off one another before crashing hard into the rocky terrain, causing a huge explosion near the two friends; Bumblebee and Spitfire. Any Autobots and Decepticons near the area were thrown in many directions. 

Bumblebee was one of several to land far from the cliff edges. Spitfire was one of the few to land near the cliffs and the only one to go over the edge, falling towards the dark crevice. She had yelped in surprise as she fell but never actually had the time to shout out a warning to anyone that she was falling before slamming into the curved cliffs several times and everything went black for her. 

Her sudden disappearance had caught Bumblebee's immediately attention and he searched frantically for her, looking among all of those who had been in the explosion, crying out her name. But he could not find her. 

Coming to her senses was not easy for Spitfire to do and even as she tried to wake herself from stasis, she felt a dull pain throughout her frame. She was drifting in and out from stasis but never came close to fully functioning. She had collected some images from after her fall and remembered she had hit the bottom of the crevice pretty hard. But the damages to her body was pretty nasty and she could not stay online for too long. It had been dark where she had laid too before blackness captured her again. 

Spitfire had fought to escape stasis again and eventually had managed to online herself for only a brief moment. At that time, someone had found her but she could not even make out who it had been. But she was sure she had not seen the cool blue eyes of an Autobot. She had been sure she had seen the vicious red glare of a Decepticon before the darkness swallowed her again. 

And again, she began to waken from her stasis, finding a better grip on herself as she tried to online herself. She could hear voices but they were rather blurred. She tried to listen but it was very difficult to make them out. She didn't recognize any of them though. 

"...damage...there?" A dulled voice spoke through the darkness, though most of the words were unclear. 

Another voice spoke but Spitfire couldn't make it out very well other than it was a rather deep, scratchy one. "...damage is excessive...repaired most..." The voice spoke, though it was not very pleasant. 

A sharp pain struck Spitfire's chest plates but she couldn't find herself to make any noise in protest to whoever was trying to repair her. She felt herself slipping again but somehow, she also felt herself rise. She wanted to touch her head, see if it was dented as badly as it felt like it was. But for some reason, she couldn't lift her hands. They felt so heavy, as if something was weighing them down. The voices paused for a moment when she managed to make a low moan and she was sure that they were looking at her. She tried to activate her optics, which were flickering only a little. But her vision was so blurred and dim that it was very difficult to make out her surroundings. Her sensors felt as if they had taken some pretty bad blows so she couldn't make out who was saving her. 

"It seems...up..." A voice spoke from above her. 

Spitfire didn't recognize the voice again but it was becoming clearer as she tried to force herself out of stasis. She could make out light now, though her vision was still blurred. She saw a flash of red though and that did make her tense only a little. 

"...long...it take?" Another voice said from above her, one that sounded powerful and rough, and even cruel. 

There as a silence in the room for a moment before Spitfire felt something being lowered into her chest plate; something rather cold against her interior. She could have frowned if she was allowed to her in state. She couldn't tell what it was or why it was being attached inside of her chest plate. She wondered if it was another device of Ratchet's...

Something sharp bit into the inside of Spitfire's chest making her jolt and whimper in pain. It felt like claws digging into her spark, causing so much discomfort. Her optics flashed open but it was still very hard for her to focus. She tried to lift her arms to shove whoever was hurting away, but her arms would not lift at all. She felt something against her metal frame, holding her down. She suddenly realized that she was strapped down. 

"It...on't take long, My Lord." Came that unpleasant voice again as whoever was attaching the discomforting object to her. She felt his claws scratching her as he worked and it left chills through her. "The device is almost connected. I just need to do a few more things before we can test it out." 

"It better work, Starscream. If it does not work, you shall pay for your incompetence!" came a growl that Spitfire did recognize. She had heard it a few times on the battle field, screaming out her Leader's name before he clashed against his enemy. It was a voice that she had not wanted to hear. Not alone as she was, anyway. She knew Lord Megatron's, Leader of the Decepticons, voice well. 

So when she heard him speak, her eyes snapped into focus faster than she was ready for. She found herself lying on a large, cold metal table with a few dark figures surrounding her and limited light so that whoever was working on her could see okay. She could definitely make out their fiery, angry optics and she knew for a fact that it was not Autobots she was seeing. 

Spitfire could see the massive and cruel Leader of the Decepticons looming near the table, watching his Second in Command attach some kind of device onto her. 

Immediately, the Valkyrie began thrashing and yanking at her bonds, trying to pull herself free from whatever was holding her down. It was almost impossible though and had caused the wicked scientist of the Decepticons have to jerk his claws back to avoid causing any damage to his invention he was about to test out. He started to growl at her as he shot her a nasty glare but she did not care that she was pissing him off. She just wanted to get out of her bonds and fight her way out. She would not be held captive to these monsters!

A clawed hand slammed hard down onto her shoulder, pinning her down so that Starscream could return his work and making it very difficult for the femme to move. It didn't take too long to see that it was Megatron, himself doing it. 

Spitfire growled at him but took the quick opportunity to take in her surroundings. She was inside some kind of dark chamber, surrounded by a few Decepticons. So far, she could make out five pairs of fiery optics in the darkness; two belonging to the Decepticon Leader and two belonging to the fastest of the Decepticon Seekers. Everyone else she couldn't see, nor did she care. She cared only about getting Starscream's claws off of her. She had never met him personally, nor had ever faced him in battle. And according to many, that was a good thing. She had heard how ruthless and cruel the Scientist could be when he was cornered. He was a known coward among both Cybertronian fractions but could be as dangerous as Megatron if he'd wish, which was why he was Second in Command. He had destroyed many of her Autobot comrades before and that was why she completely loathed him. 

Worst thing worst, he was still attaching the device to inside her chest plate. 

Snarling at him and thrashing to get out of his reach, Spitfire glared up at Starscream, who did his best to ignoring her. "Get your filthy claws off of me, you disgusting creature!" She snarled at him.

Starscream, to her surprise, paid her no attention but kept working on his device. He didn't even glance to her glaring, white-blue optics but kept at his work. He had, however, tightened the grip on the device, causing Spitfire some pain. She cried out softly before continuing to thrash at her bonds. She was still finding it very hard to move with Megatron holding her down and her bonds being so tight against her arms and legs. 

Growling, Megatron didn't seem to like her moving around though as he tightened his hold onto her shoulders. "She is sure a noisy one." He growled before he released one shoulder and grabbed her head, slamming it hard down against the table. He was rewarded with a yelp from her before he released her head again, glaring down at her. "Shut up, you Autobot Glitch! Stop making such a racket! Consider yourself lucky that you're not offlined yet! Continue that fit of yours, I might just dismantle you!" 

Spitfire glared up at him, growling viciously up at him. She sounded more like an outraged feline being caged and being jabbed by sharp sticks. In a way, she was. "Do it, Mega-breath! Kill me!" She spat him savagely. "See if I care if you offline me! It will only go to show of your cowardice of beating an unarmed, tied down Autobot!" She was just trying to push his buttons but by the looks of Megatron, it was working. 

The Decepticon Leader growled loudly before lashing out and backhanding Spitfire across the face, throwing her head to the side. He earned a yelp from her but he wasn't satisfied with just that. So he rose his clawed hands for another blow. 

"My Lord!" Starscream interrupted as he quickly reached out and caught his Leader's arm. "Remember what I am doing. Kill her now and we won't be able to complete our plan." He spoke to him, though there was some amusement in his voice. He seemed to have found Spitfire's words highly entertaining. 

Giving Starscream a dark look, Megatron yanked his arm free and backed a foot away from the table. It was probably to keep himself from causing the captive any more damage. He was still eyeing her dangerously, as if he wanted nothing more than to destroy her. But whatever plan that Starscream had been talking about was what was keeping him from doing it. "Hurry it up, Starscream! You're going too slow!" He ordered. 

Starscream frowned at him, no doubt annoyed with the order but with a shake of his head, he went back to work on with the device. His touch was rough and painful as his claws scratched against Spitfire's chest plate but there was somewhat softer than before. He seemed to be more careful now, as if something was wrong with the device. He was acting like it was dangerous to mess around with now. 

Eventually, Spitfire started watching him before frowning at the device. She didn't like this. She couldn't understand what it was. "What are you doing?! What is that piece of scrap metal?!" She demanded to know. She knew that they wouldn't answer. Why should they?

Megatron started to growl at her but the Scientist snorted as he continued to attach the device to the inside of Spitfire's chest, almost directly to her spark chamber. It was causing some unpleasant electric charges now, making her wince. But either way, the Seeker answered. "This, Autobot, is how we will be controlling you into answering our interrogation. If you behave, you won't get hurt." He told her. 

"I won't tell you anything!" Spitfire shot at him, viciously. She would be damned that she told them anything about what they may ask. 

There was only a short huff from the Seeker but he didn't reply again. He just kept on working on the device until it was completely connected to Spitfire as he had wanted. He slammed Spitfire's chest plates shut, making her wince in pain. "Good. All finished. Now to activate it." He raised his arm and opened a compartment, revealing a small arm computer he carried with him. He paused, however, to look into Spitfire's optics as he began pushing a few buttons, hissing as if it was causing him some discomfort. But after he finished with that, he smirked coldly at her. "This is going to hurt a little, little one. So brace yourself." He warned her before willingly activating the device through his system. 

A sharp electric jolt shot through Spitfire's entire body frame, coming directly from the device in her chest. It was painful enough to make her cry out in pain but not long enough to hurt too much. She could feel a gentle throbbing inside of her now, the works of the device that Starscream had connected to her. It still alarmed her. "Wh-what was that?! What you done to me, Decepti-scum!" She demanded, though there was some nervousness vibrating within her tone. 

Starscream only smirked at her as he lowered his arm. He didn't answer Spitfire but looked to Megatron, who was watching with dark humor on his face. "My Lord, Megatron, my invention is now activated and ready for its uses." He told the Decepticon Leader. 

A vicious grin spread out on Megatron's face as he took one step forward and nodded to Starscream. His fiery glare didn't leave Spitfire's face once as he tilted his head. "Good, Starscream. Now let's test it out. Why don't you give this Autobot Glitch the idea of how serious we are?" he ordered. 

"Yes, Lord Megatron." Starscream replied before he turned his burning gaze onto Spitfire, looking as if he was looking forward to this. And then he activated the device again. 

Spitfire didn't even know what happened right that second but she heard a shrill, metallic scream within the room before she realized it was her just as a very painful electric burst exploded from the device in her chest cavity, attacking every inch of her. Her entire metal frame felt like it was on fire, being frozen, being electrocuted, and every pain she could even imagine was hitting her. It was so excruciating. She had never felt such pain before and she wanted it to stop. But all she could do was thrash and scream as the pain continued for about two minutes. 

And after two minutes, Megatron held up a hand and Starscream deactivated the device again, watching as the femme on the table groan and whirl in pain. Every inch of her was shuddering from the experience she just felt. She felt so drained of her energon. The noise was terrible though, but it didn't seem to phase either Decepticon at all as they watched her. 

"Now," Megatron began as he chuckled darkly. "Let us begin the interrogation. Where is the Autobot base located?" 

For nearly seven hours, Spitfire refused to answer Megatron's questions. She would not tell him anything that he wanted to know. And for those seven hours, she was tortured by Starscream's device. Seven hours of that excruciating pain coursing through her body, causing her to scream so loud. Yet it only attracted the attention of a few Decepticons who had come to watch with their dark amusement. It was entertainment to them to see an Autobot in pain. 

However, Spitfire's defiance was beginning to wear thin on Megatron's temper. He was losing patience because of her refusal to speak anything else but the curses and insults she threw at them. 

And after seven hours, he got fed up. 

Roaring in rage after another insult from the incompetent female, something that dealt with the way his face was arranged into looking like an aft, he lashed out and struck Spitfire's face, hitting it hard and denting the side a little. He was rewarded with a loud painful scream from her but he did meet his satisfaction. He wanted to cause her more pain. He rose his claws high, ready to strike her again. It was a deathblow and he knew it. She knew it. Starscream knew it. That was why he nearly lunged across the table and caught Megatron's arm, trying to stop him from killing the female Autobot. He knew that if the Decepticon Leader killed her, they would lose their chance. 

"Lord Megatron! No! Remember! We need her for the second part of the plan!" The Seeker tried to remind the vicious leader. 

But Megatron's temper overcame his words. He just snarled at Starscream before batting him hard with his arm, knocking him away into the wall with a thunderous crack. The Seeker had let out a loud started cry escape from him as he slid to the floor but his fiery optics watched as his Leader lashed out at the determined Autobot female, who had seemed to plan this all along. 

Suddenly, a massive hand shot out of the darkness, engulfing Megatron's hand and holding it from striking Spitfire. It surprised both Decepticon Leader and Autobot Valkyrie, though a wave of annoyance passed over Megatron's face. He seemed to know who had just stopped him from killing this ridiculous female. 

Spitfire, however, froze with a look of horror on her face. She was stunned on how big it was. It no doubt belonged to a much bigger Decepticon than Megatron. She didn't know about any Autobot or Decepticon that could have been this size. "Wh-wha...?! Wha-what is that?!" She cried out, not hiding her alarm. 

A dark chuckle was her answer from the dark shadows of the room. It was a voice that clearly said ruthless and very powerful and it made Spitfire shudder. She was deathly still as a pair of large, hellishly red optics opened and looked into her terrified gaze of white-blue. They were so high up that it was clear that this was a big Decepticon. This thing must have been monstrously huge. 

"Megatron, my pupil," Came a cold, dark voice that sent cold shivers through Spitfire, making her literately shudder for all to see. There were a few snickers, but even they were weak as many Decepticons watched the big one in the shadows. They obviously were afraid of this one. "Do not let the femme get to you. She is only testing you, wanting you to lose your nerve so that you would destroy her. That is a way that will keep her silent and not let us learn what we want to know. You must learn to be patient, Megatron. We have time to destroy the Autobots. But right now, we do need this one. She is not only close to the Prime's mate, but she is close to another. Without this female, our plans will not work." 

Spitfire looked up at the hidden mech with horror but she did her best to try and look brave. It was a little futile but she managed to glare up at the mech. "Wh-who are you?!" She demanded. 

The massive mech chuckled again before releasing Megatron, who stepped back, looking foul. The mech leaned forward, allowing some light to hit his face, but not enough for Spitfire to see him completely. He did somewhat look metallically humanoid for a Cybertronian. There were points on either side of his head, probably long horns and they did look sharp. "My name is Forgotten, Sparkling. No mech has spoke its name for nearly a millennia until recently." A clawed hand reached out from the shadows and brushed against Spitfire's metal face. She wanted to jerk away but she couldn't find herself to doing it. She was too terrified. "You are a pretty one, Sparkling. It would be terrible to disfigure your features. I don't think," The massive Decepticon paused before chuckling again. "I don't think your Bumblebee would like one of us damaging your face." 

A sharp exhale escaped Spitfire as she looked up at the Decepticon with alarm. She knew that there was a double meaning there. "B-Bee...?" She murmured. 

Another dark chuckle escaped from the mech before those hellish red optics turned and looking at Megatron, who was frowning. "That will be your key, Megatron. Use the Scout against her. She is close to that one?" 

"The Bug?!" A Decepticon off to the side exclaimed in disbelief. Spitfire recognized the voice to be Barricade though. She knew very well that he held a grudge against her best friend. 

Megatron, however, was smirking as he leaned over Spitfire, looking into her gaze. He seemed to have come up with an idea of how to get her to speak, due to the massive Decepticon's prodding. "Tell us, Glitch, what we want to know and we won't kill your little bug." He threatened her. 

Spitfire shivered at the threat but then put on a hard glare on her face, shaking her head. She knew that had to be an empty threat. She knew how skilled her best friend would be. "No! You can't kill him! He's more skilled than any of your idiocy Decepticons! He could outsmart any of you any day!" She growled at him. 

There was a outburst of growls and hisses from the Decepticons in the room, some even trying to move forward. But they halted when both Megatron and the hidden mech shot them a look. They knew better than to disobey both of them. Looking back at her, Megatron gave her a dark look before lashing out and grabbing her by the neck, tightening his grip. "If you do not tell us where the Autobot Base is, I will not only destroy you, I will destroy your precious bug! Mark my words, femme! My Decepticons will continue to attack him until he has fallen!" He snarled into her face. 

The threat shook Spitfire a little but she prayed to Primus that was all it was. She knew it would be so difficult to get a hold of Bumblebee anyway. He was one of the fastest mechs on Cybertron. "You will fail. If you keep attacking him, Optimus will know that he's what you're after and he will protect him." She spoke in a low, dark tone. 

The grip on her neck tightened to almost painful but Megatron didn't do what he wanted to do. He just glared into her optics before his head jerked to the side, looking at the massive Decepticon, as if asking what his opinion was. 

"If you do not speak, youngling, we will kill him. Even Optimus Prime can't protect him if it's too late." The giant spoke, his voice almost dull yet dark as ever. 

Then Starscream stepped forward, holding up a clawed hand, trying to get all of their attention. It worked. All optics looked over at him as he approached, giving Megatron a dark look for throwing him against the wall. But then he looked back at Spitfire, almost just as sourly. "I have a suggest, my Lords. Capture the Autobot Scout and bring him here. Leave her alive so that she can watch. I can easily build a second device and we can implant it into the Scout. Let this Autobot scum watch her comrade writhe in pain as she had for her defiance. It would be most entertaining." He said, smirking coldly. 

A jolt of fear struck through Spitfire as she even saw the images of Bumblebee strapped to the table, writing and whirling in pain. She could already hear his screams, feeling the excruciating pain she had felt. She couldn't bear to think of him in such pain. "NO!" She screamed at them. "DON'T! YOU! DARE!" 

Megatron smirked before looking around at all of the Decepticons, nodding to them. "Capture the Autobot, Bumblebee. Bring him here. I does not matter what condition he is, only that he is alive." He ordered. The Decepticons were already moving towards the door. 

"NO!" Spitfire screamed, her optics wide with pain as she continued to see the images of Bumblebee's pain. She couldn't let them do that to him. She had to stop them! She began thrashing and tugging at her bonds, trying to break loose. "NO! PLEASE!" 

The massive Decepticon held up a hand and all together, all of the Decepticons looked at him at the same time, as if he had called out to them. His optics was on Spitfire as she looked up at him with terror and he knew what exactly she was afraid of. "Do as we tell you, Valkyrie Spitfire, and your Bumblebee friend will live. Without pain. We want Optimus Prime. It's either him or your Bug. Decide carefully. Would you rather give up the location of the Autobot Base and let us do as we wish or will you rather watch the Scout suffer the same pain you've been through?" He asked, a light growl within his vocal system. 

Spitfire slowly shook her head, feeling herself fighting the decision she was being forced to make. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. She was being forced to destroy her comrades, her friends and even the one who had nearly served as her father figure. 

Optimus Prime. 

"I..." 

The massive mech seemed to be smiling almost cruelly at her from the darkness. She could almost feel the smirk trained at her. "Make up your mind very quickly, femme. You have only a limited time before we decide to locate your comrade." He warned her. 

Her head lowering, Spitfire let out a shuddering breath escape from her as she turned her gaze towards the wall. She didn't want to do this but she really did not want to see Bumblebee face the same pain she had. Besides, there was a spark of hope within her. Even if she did tell the Decepticons the whereabouts of the Autobot Base, there might be a chance she could warn them of what happened. "If I tell you where the base is, you have to let me go back and get Bumblebee out." She told them. "You cannot harm him in anyway." 

"Why you...?!" A Decepticon growled, starting forward. 

But Megatron held up a clawed hand, shaking his head. He didn't seem offended or angry by her words. He actually seemed to be very amused. "Brave demands, Autobot." His face darkened again but he kept a cruel smirk on his face. "But you are in no position to make any demands. We will agree to your terms, but you will listen to my orders when I tell you. You listen and do everything I tell you, you and your Scout will live. You will return to your Autobot Base, leading us to it but you will not warn Optimus Prime or any of your comrades." He sneered when Spitfire tensed and looked at him with surprise. "Do you think me a fool, Autobot Glitch?! I know you are thinking about it! Warn the Autobots or your companion and I will blast the Scout's head off! And then I will kill you!" He snarled before slamming his claws together and transforming them into a large blast cannon. 

There was a thunderous boom as Megatron fired a shot at the wall, creating a devastating hole from the hot blast. The shot, itself, shook the entire room, causing it to vibrate. But it was enough to make Spitfire flinch, imaging what kind of devastation that Megatron's weapon could do to Bumblebee. 

"That will be the Scout's head if you warn anyone about our invasion! Mark my words, traitor!" 

The harsh title Megatron had given Spitfire stung her pretty bad, enough to make her flinch. She felt as if it was a physical blow. She could only hope that if the Decepticons did attack the Autobot Base, they would be able to fight them off without any problems. And she could only hope that she could get Bumblebee away from the attack before it happened. So with a deep sigh, she dipped her head into a nod. "Allow me to return and draw Bumblebee away before you attack. And I will do as you order me." She told the Decepticon leader. 

There was an unsettling silence as Megatron gave her a dark look but after a long moment, he let his fiery glare flicker over to the massive Decepticon to see what he had to say about Spitfire's request. And after a moment, the giant nodded and waved a hand. "Very well, little Pet. But from this moment on, you will address both Megatron by our titles. We are Lords. Lord Megatron." The massive Decepticon paused before he shifted and stood up. Spitfire froze as she watched him grow taller until he was nearly 32 feet tall. It was almost amazing that he even fit in the chamber as it was. He was so big, it was terrifying. "And you will address me as Master Unicron."

 

"WHAT?!" Hot Rod exclaimed as soon as Spitfire had said that name, making the four teenagers jump nearly out of their skins and look wide eyed up at him with alarm. They had been so into Spitfire's story that they almost forgot where they were. But the mentioning of that name had confused them, and alarmed both of the male Autobots. They obviously knew that name.

"Wait...who?" Sam asked, frowning, looking from Spitfire to Hot Rod and then to Bumblebee. "Who's this...Unicorn?"

Hot Rod was growling, his optics flaring a little as he glared at Spitfire. He did not like the sound of that tyrant's name more than anyone of the Autobots did. Even his gun blaster started to vibrate and rumble as if it was going to go off and everyone knew that he was itching to use it. "That's Unicron, Sam. Not Unicorn. He is the farthest from being a horned horse." He growled. Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena frowned as they glanced at one another before looking up at their three Guardians with confusion.

"Okay, you know what? It'd be nice if someone said something to us. Who is Unicron?" Mikaela remarked.

Spitfire looked down at them before looking away. She did not answer, nor did she want to. It was a touchy subject for her as it was. But then Bumblebee decided to answer as he glanced at Spitfire then down at the four humans. "He's worst than Megatron." He announced surprising the four teen humans. He just shook his head as he looked at Hot Rod, who had not stopped glaring at Spitfire. "Unicron was the first Decepticon ever in history. And the Second Cybertronian ever created. He was known as a legend on Cybertronian until about a thousand years ago. There were horror stories about him, stories to scare Sparklings into behaving their creators and mentors until the stories were proven true."

"Feel very lucky that none of you will have to meet him." Hot Rod growled, still glaring at Spitfire. "He was the largest Cybertronian in history and the most destructive. He could travel star to star, engulfing their energon and destroying them. He was known as the Chaos Bringer among our people. He destroyed many worlds, himself."

Hearing that made the four humans shudder. They didn't like the sound of this guy at all. And they were pretty sure that if Hot Rod and Bumblebee were uneasy about the mentioning of this Unicron, they did not want to meet him. "Okay." Elena said, her red strip of hair bouncing on her shoulder before she tossed it back and looked up at her Guardian. "So...if you were forced to serve him, then what...why didn't you tell me about this guy?"

Spitfire grimaced and turned away, not wanting to look any of them. She looked as if it caused her a lot of pain just thinking about it. She let out a long sigh before looking down at the humans, lowering herself to her knee, watching them. "I did not tell you about him, Elena, to protect you from the knowledge of him." She lift her optics and glanced from Bumblebee to Hot Rod. "Yes, Hot Rod. It was Unicron who was responsible for my betrayal. It was his idea to use me in the first place. And you know what it was like to be in his presence. After all, you're the reason he's gone." She stated, her voice somewhat light.

At that compliment, it seemed to have lighten Hot Rod's mood just a little but he did not stop glaring at her. Still, everyone kept glancing between the three, frowning in confusion. Trent then shook his head as he waved a hand. "Okay, I'm going to ask the same thing that Mikaela said. It'd be nice if you told us what the hell you're talking about. Who is Unicron?" He asked, frowning.

Again, there was brief silence before Spitfire sighed and reached up to her head, tapping a button there. She was activating her holographic projections. But instead of projecting an image of a human form of herself, she revealed a massive mech, jerking around and snarling at nothing. The sudden appearance of him made the four jump back as they saw it. The mech, itself, was a vicious looking Cybertronian. He took on some kind of twisted human form but he also looked almost demonic. He had sharp pointed horns on each side of his head, standing up several feet from the top of his head while on his back, there were sharp poles of some kind, trailing from his back, almost like demonic wings. As for his face, he took on an elder look, yet there were sharp fangs hanging from within his massive mouth. He was snarling around the area, as if preparing for battle.

Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena looked up at the hologram of this monstrous Cybertronian. This was something out of a nightmare. Or a horror movie. "What is that?" Sam asked, frowning.

"That's Unicron. He's bigger than he looks." Spitfire explained, her optics nearly glaring at the form she was showing them. "In fact, he, himself, is bigger than your planet. That is one thing I have to explain to you about. Out of every Cybertronian you have ever met, Autobot and Decepticon, Unicron is the only Cybertronian who can create extension versions of himself. It's very difficult to explain in a way that you will understand, but you must try to. Unicron can break himself down into pieces, creating Cybertronians. Or Decepticons for that matter. He uses his extensions as his own spies. And he was using one of them to work with Megatron. But it's still all him. He convinced Megatron to use me to betray the Autobots and attack them." She explained.

"Extensions? You mean..." Mikaela was saying.

Spitfire half nodded and half shrugged. "He creates smaller versions of himself and sends them off his real body to do what he needs and wants done. You remember Sideways from earlier? The silver Audi R 8? The one I engaged with? He's one of them." She told them.

"Huh? But I thought Hot Rod said that Unicron is gone. How was...Sideways one of his extensions?" Trent asked frowning.

Spitfire nodded as she stood up straight again. She folded her arms across her chest as she looked away from them. "Yeah. He is gone. From what I heard," She glanced over at Hot Rod. "About 400 years after I betrayed the Autobots, Unicron tried to destroy Optimus and the Autobots, himself. Because Megatron kept failing and it made him angry. I watched the fight from a far though. I didn't want to get into it." She sighed again and lowered her head. "It wasn't easy though, watching Unicron nearly kill everyone." She then snorted before looking at Hot Rod, who lift his head higher, looking almost smug. "Hot Rod, here, was the one who got rid of him." She said, almost in amusement.

"What?" Sam and Trent both said at the same time before they looked up at the electric blue Autobot, with the two girls. They couldn't believe it though. They weren't sure if that was entirely sure if that was true.

Hot Rod rolled his optics before folding his arms, shifting his nearly a ton weight. "All right. All right. I can see why it's hard to believe. Unicron was not an easy monster to fight. Even Optimus Prime had a hard time and he's the strongest out of the entire Autobot forces." He shrugged. "If you have to know, I came up with this plan to back Unicron towards this black hole that was a good distance away from Cybertron and knocked him into it. He got sucked up into the hole and knowing black holes, he probably got torn to pieces." He told them.

Slowly, Sam nodded as he and the other three took the information in. "Okay. But if he's dead, then why is Sideways not?" He asked.

Spitfire shook her head as she dropped her arms again. "Just because Unicron is gone, doesn't mean his extensions aren't. They don't just deactivate because he's not around anymore. They basically become their own mech. They were servants of Unicron. They just obeyed his orders and that's basically it." She informed the teens.  
"Okay. But that still doesn't exactly explain how you and Starscream were friends. How did that happen?" Mikaela asked as she leaned against Bumblebee's foot with Sam. She just wanted to know the story behind the femme and Starscream.

For a moment, Spitfire was quiet, staring off away from the four humans and even the two Autobots. She actually looked a little distant about the memory. There was some pain behind her optics and it didn't take a genius to recognize it. "My friendship with Starscream didn't happen for a long time. Even after I betrayed the Autobots and was found running away from Bumblebee after he found out what I did." She paused to glance at Bumblebee, who did look somewhat forlorn. He no doubt remembered that day like it was yesterday. "I ran into Unicron when I ran away after the Decepticons attacked the base. He wouldn't let me go. He forced me to join the Decepticons and because I was rightfully afraid of him, I allowed him to pull me in. He said he was fond of me because of my deception against my comrades. But even if I was...some kind of pet of his, no one in the Decepticons welcomed me..."

 

It had been nearly 2 years since the Decepticon attack against the Autobots that claimed the mate of Optimus Prime and several others. At the most part, the Decepticons kept up their vicious war against their enemies. But a lot of them complained about their newest team mate, though they wouldn't even claim Spitfire as one of them. To them, she was an outsider, a piece of trash. She was still Autobot scum to them due to the fact that she still wore the Autobot insignia. Even Megatron didn't like her, always bullying her whenever he saw her. She made it a point to avoid the Decepticon Leader. He loved slamming her around when she went near him. He was the only one that Unicron didn't reprimand for it though. Everyone else that beat on her was glared at by the most powerful tyrant of the Decepticons, though there were some stories about the oldest Cybertronian. 

Most of the time, Spitfire avoided every one of the Decepticons. She had become quiet and distant from any near her. She never really spoke unless she was ordered to. She didn't have to go on missions for the Decepticons though. Megatron didn't trust her enough to make her leave the Decepticon base. So she was mostly left alone. 

But occasionally, some Decepticons ignored the warnings they had gotten from Unicron about beating up on her and went out of their way to bully her. 

SLAM!

A squeak escaped the former Autobot Valkyrie as she was hit so hard by her tormentors that when she hit the wall, it left a dent in the base wall. She could only groan as she slid to the metal floor of the room where five Decepticons; one being Sideways. He had become rather disgusted with her, completely loathing her because she was pretty much Lord Unicron's favorite pet. He simply loathed her existence for attracting the attention of the powerful Legend. He made his goal to beat her up nearly twice, nearly three times a day if he got lucky. He never got caught for it either. 

It was because Spitfire wouldn't tell Unicron anything that happened to her because of the jealousy of Sideways. She tried to never speak to the powerful Decepticon Lord so she never told on the Decepticons that beat her. She just let the Decepticons have their way with her, praying to Primus that they would beat her so badly that it offlined her. 

So far, she wasn't lucky. 

This beating, however, was pretty bad today. She knew why Sideways and even some of the Constructicons were doing it. It was because she had gotten fed up with some of the sayings going on about her from some Decepticons and she showed them up during a survival training session with the Decepticons. There were times that the Decepticons went undergo training with each other, trying to improve their fighting skills so that they could destroy the Autobots. And Spitfire was always the blunt of every harsh joke. The Decepticons were always being cruel to her because she was an Ex-Autobot. She got tired of it and beat all of the Decepticons. 

As punishment, Sideways, some of the Constructicons and even Cyclonus had cornered her some time after the training and ambushed her. It had been Cyclonus who bashed her into the wall. 

So it left Spitfire on the ground, shuddering from her beating, feeling weak. 

"You think you're so better than everyone else, don't you?" Sideways growled, looming over the injured femme, glaring at her in hate. "You, disgusting Autobot, are trash, scrap metal that should be incinerated. You are a traitorous scrap." 

Spitfire managed to turn her optics up to him and glare, even though she received a swift kick to the side from Sideways. "If you don't like me, Sideways. Then why you just kill me?" She said in a low and dangerous voice. 

"Hmph! Like I'm stupid enough to do that, scumbot! Do you really think I'm so stupid that I would kill you and then suffer the consequences from Master Unicron?! I can't see why he favors you anyway, you fragging Autobot betrayer!" Sideways snarled at her. 

Spitfire winced at the title but shrugged it off as she growled up at him, trying to push herself to sitting up a little. "Yeah? Well you are stupid, Sideways! Maybe that's why out of all of his little creations, Scourge is the one who he likes the most! Because he happens to be the most intelligent out of you and Cyclonus! Cowardice pitspawns!" 

Sideways and Cyclonus snarled in rage at her before they began to repeatedly slamming their clawed feet into Spitfire's side, over and over again. Sideways growled at the others to join in, which they delightfully did so. And all the femme did was ball up and allow them to beat on her. She could feel her spark vibrating hard and Starscream's device began to spark into it. She let out a choking gasp, but it was her intentions to letting them beat her like this. She knew very well what would happen if they kept it up. She could be offlined and the explosive program in the device would go off, possibly taking the entire Decepticon Base with...

Suddenly, someone roughly grabbed Sideways and flung him so hard until he slammed into the wall with a thunderous crack. That same someone then slammed an elbow into Cyclonus' head, knocking the huge Decepticon away before proceeding to the others. All of the bullying Decepticons cried out in alarm or pain as they found their selves at the end of a metallic fist slamming into them and throwing them against the wall before they scattered back a little ways. They had been expecting to see Unicron himself beating the living Pit out of them. But to their surprise, it was Starscream. 

Starscream now stood between them and Spitfire, snarling at them as he rose his arm blaster, heating it up intensively. "Idiots! I warned you and everyone to not try and destroy the Autobot betrayer! I warned you what would happen if you severely damaged her!" He growled before violently kicking at the nearest Decepticon. 

Sideways growled right back as he pushed himself to his feet, glaring at the Seeker. He was no doubt pissed that he was ruining his violent fun. "Mind your own business, Starscream! This Glitch has made fools out of us and she's going to pay!" He snarled. 

The Seeker snorted as he lift his head higher, but kept his blaster trained on the other Decepticon, not letting it waver. "It is my business as the Second in Command of the Decepticon Army, Sideways. If you continue to damage the Autobot, Spitfire, as you are doing, Energon Absorb Explosive will activate and we will be a crater in Cybertron!" He snarled Sideways. "And that is what she wanted, you fragging mindless Pitspawn!" 

Sideways and the other Decepticons hesitated, almost surprised before looking down at Spitfire, who looked away, looking angry. That was all they needed to know. Growling, they started to move forward, to extract some revenge against Spitfire for deceiving them. 

However, Starscream rose his other blaster, aiming both of them now at the approaching Decepticons. He looked as if he was itching to start firing at the narrow-minded idiots of Decepticons. "Leave, Sideways. Or do you want me to remind you why I am the Second in Command?" He growled, in a low, dangerous voice. "Or would you like to explain to Unicron now why you just beat up his little pet?" 

Sideways growled at him before his head came up sharply and winced. Cyclonus even flinched heavily as if the same thing happened to him. It was almost like someone just called out their names, already beginning their harsh yelling. And it didn't take a genius to realize who it was. 

"You better go, Sideways." Starscream sneered, a vicious laugh within his vocal system. "Your master calls for you." 

Growling, Sideways glared at the Seeker, hatefully before jerking around and motioning for Cyclonus to follow. They knew they were about to get the worst reprimand for what they had done. And they knew how Unicron had found out. He knew everything that his extensions did. It was only a matter of time if he ever connected with their mind processors and see what they've done or have been through. It was one way he learned how to do something so quickly. So, it wasn't that anyone tattled on them. Unicron did it himself. And through their uplink, he was already yelling at Sideways and Cyclonus to get to his quarters where he'd probably beat the living slag out of them. 

The Constructicons had waited a moment, trying to figure out what they were going to do, their selves. They wanted to beat up the Autobot betrayer some more. But what was holding them back was the unsettling glare that Starscream was giving them. So they decided to just leave. 

Once all of the bullies were going, Starscream turned with a jerk, shooting his fiery glare onto Spitfire next as she tried to push herself to her feet. She didn't even spare him a glance as she paused in mid rise to wince and clamp a hand over her side where Sideways had badly dented her chest plate. He growled once before going over and kicking her arm, causing her to collapse with a sharp, startled yelp. "You think you're so smart, do you, Autobot?! Let us destroy you and we destroy ourselves?! You really think we are so stupid?!" He snapped at her. 

Spitfire shot him a look as she once again propped herself up, leaning against the wall for some support. "If I didn't know any better, I pretty much proved that!" She snapped right back. 

There was a very unsettling silence between the two as they glared at one another before Starscream snorted and straightened his posture. He now looked somewhat amused, though he had not stopped glaring at her. "You have a point. Most of the Decepticons are idiots. And even if I should reprimand and punish you for your act, I won't. Because I'd probably do the same thing." He told her before backing little ways so that she could pull herself to her feet. "But, I would have expected more from you, Spot." 

Spitfire blinked in surprise before looking up at him, rather confused about what he meant. She frowned deeply at the name he called her, somewhat annoyed. "Huh? What are you talking about? And don't call me Spot. My name is Spitfire." She nearly shot at him. 

What was somewhat surprising to the femme was the fact that Starscream just smirked at her and shook his head. "I always took you as a feisty one. One who has the spirit of a spitfire. I didn't think you would stoop so low to letting a bunch of idiotic Decepticons to beat up you. I do recall that you had outsmarted quite a lot of our Decepticons during training. And I thought you were an Autobot. Autobots are suppose to be stubborn." He told her, almost in disgust. 

For a moment, Spitfire stared at him almost bewildered. She couldn't believe this was actually coming out of Starscream's mouth. It almost sounded like he was trying to perk her up. "Are you trying to cheer me u?" She asked skeptically. 

Starscream almost snarled at her, giving her a very dangerous look he usually saved for the ones he despised. It was a look she had seen him shoot Megatron a couple of times after the Decepticon Leader talked down to him. "I'm trying to prove a point, Autobot scum." He snapped at her, his optics flashing violently. "And I'm not trying to cheer you up! It'd just be pleasant enough if you were feisty like you were before and let me watch you beat the living slag out of a bunch of the imbeciles!" 

Spitfire didn't really know what to say to that. She felt somewhat annoyed and somewhat amused at the same time. "Wow. I'm so glad I'm so entertaining for you, Seeker." She grumbled. 

"Heh." Starscream snorted before turning away from her with a jerk. "There's not much entertainment around this fragging place! Some Autobot betrayer like you beating up a bunch of idiots is amusing." 

The Ex-Valkyrie cringed at the word, "Betrayer" before turning away from him, her arms folding across her metallic chest. She knew that was what she was, but it ached badly being called it. "Don't call me that. I'm not really an Autobot anymore. But I'm not a Decepticon either. And what I did," She shuddered at the memory. "I'll never forgive myself for what I done to Bumblebee. Or Optimus Prime." 

Starscream made a sound of deep disgust as he glared at her for a moment before rolling his optics. "Stop throwing your own pity party. It's the most disgusting display I've ever seen." he shot her a dark look when Spitfire looked at him in rage and started to say something but he beat her to it. "Shut up! I'm not done talking! I'm sure Prime taught you that it's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking!" He nodded once when Spitfire didn't say anything, growling loudly at her as he turned to face her completely. "Yes, you betrayed the Autobots. But you really didn't have much of a choice, now did you? It was either give us a shot at Prime or let your little Bug suffer the same as you had!" he told her reaching over and sharply tapped her chest plate, directly above where his invention was. 

Spitfire yanked out of his reach, giving him a dark look as she turned her body away from him. She was not too comfortable with the Seeker touching her. "There is no honor in being a coward, Screamer." She said coldly. "What I did was a disgrace." 

"Yeah, Spitspot?" Starscream said just as coldly. "Well, cowards live to betray another day." 

"I don't plan on betraying the Autobots again!" Spitfire spat at him. 

Starscream snorted as he got a very evil flicker in his fiery gaze and he looked almost like he was grinning slyly. There was no doubt something on his mind and he knew it would get her attention. It was almost too perfect and too mischievous. "I didn't say you had to betray the Autobots again, Spitspot." He said, in a low, dangerous voice, taking Spitfire by surprise. He almost chuckled to see how shocked she looked just by his words. 

 

"Not too long after he said that to me, I learned that Starscream absolutely hated Megatron. But that's no surprise to anyone. Everyone knew that. Even Megatron knew that. No one knew why they loathed each other. Starscream never told me. He just said that some day, he would probably kill Megatron when he got the chance and take his rightful place as Decepticon Leader. I came up with this idea right at that moment. I planned on using Starscream to destroy the Decepticons from within. I swore silently to him that I would stand behind him and help him destroy Megatron. He seemed to have bought it because he began teaching me. He taught me how to fight like a Decepticon. I didn't like it but it was the only thing I could do. I don't think Unicron liked it too much but he liked watching Megatron's reaction. The Decepticon Leader hated the idea that a former Autobot was learning the ways of a Decepticon. It was like learning top secrets. But I had my goal and Starscream was the key to it." Spitfire explained.

"But what happened? How did you guys become friends?" Mikaela asked during Spitfire's explanation.

"We didn't ever really consider each other friends. More like comrades in war. He taught me how to fight, I told him about all of the Autobots, not that it should surprise him at all. He knew almost anything about my former Autobot comrades. He was particularly interested in learning about Bumblebee and even about Elita One when she was alive. He seemed to have...found something interesting about her. It wasn't just the fact that she was a daughter of a former Prime or anything."

"Daughter of a former Prime? How does that...I mean...can you guys even...mate like..."

"Don't even ask, Sam." Spitfire interrupted, smirking a little when Mikaela slapped the back of her boyfriend's head. "It's too complicated right now. And I'm sure you don't want to learn the basics of Cybertronian Reproduction." She did laugh when Sam and Trent literately shuddered. "Anyway, about my friendship with Starscream, it kind of began after we attacked Hot Rod. I had refused to fight Hot Rod or even Jetfire. I froze when I saw him and watched as Starscream tried to destroy him. But when Jetfire interrupted the fight and we were forced to retreat, I had thought Starscream would be furious with me. I thought he would turn around and beat the living Pit out of me for freezing up like I had. But he didn't. He actually kept very quiet about it and he didn't even report it to Megatron. Usually, he's suppose to. But he didn't. After that, things kind of changed between us. We were more open with one another. We actually talked to one another. We even watched the day that Unicron challenged the Autobots, himself. We both watched as the Autobots fought the vicious Ruler and nearly failed. Many Autobots had perished during that war against the planet sized Cybertronian. But it was when Unicron nearly killed Optimus Prime, did a certain hot headed Autobot Spy Changer get the strength he needed to defeat Unicron." Spitfire paused to look over at Hot Rod, who folded his arms and lift his head, almost smug but serious at the same time. "Hot Rod annoyed Unicron enough to make him chase him all around the orbit of Cybertron and even further out in space before he knocked him into a Black Hole a few light-years away from our home planet. I remember seeing everyone's apprehension. The Autobots thought that Hot Rod had been killed by Unicron. All they could do was wait for Lord Unicron to return. But...he never did. Hot Rod returned, weak and exhausted from his fight but he had the victory." Again Spitfire paused with a light look shot at Hot Rod, who still looked somewhat smug. "Still there's no way Starscream and I became close friends like me and Bumblebee once were but...he was the closest thing to a friend I had with the Decepticons."

"But?" Trent was the one to ask.

There was a long silence before Spitfire sighed and shook her head. "But the day I was to betray the Decepticons was the day I betrayed Starscream."

 

The Decepticon Base was in an uproar. It as right after a battle with the Autobots, which Spitfire mostly had sat out on. It had been a huge battle though. The battle for possession over the All Spark, which had been lost to Cybertron because someone had launched it out into space to keep it away from Megatron. And from what Starscream had said, it was Bumblebee who did it when Megatron nearly cornered him for the All Spark. Spitfire had felt pride for her former best friend for what he had done. But what had her very worried was the news of how Megatron punished him by ripping out his voice processor, rendering him rather weak before going after the All Spark, abandoning Cybertron and the Decepticons. 

Spitfire wanted nothing more than to just go to Bumblebee and check on him. But she knew very well that it wasn't even an option. She could be killed on sight for her treason. And that was something that she couldn't do. 

Now, as it was, it left the Decepticons with a decision to make. Who would be the next Decepticon Leader? 

Of course, Starscream immediately jumped in and stated that since he was the Second in Command, he was now the Leader of the Decepticons. Some of the Decepticons had no problem with him becoming the Leader. They actually supported him. But it was another Decepticon, Soundwave who stood up to challenge the Seeker for the title. 

There was a major fight among the Decepticons about who was to lead them. There was a large rift between many of them as half joined Starscream's side and the other joined Soundwave. Almost all of the Seekers were with Starscream while most of the Constructicons were trying to join Soundwave. Sideways was definitely on Soundwave's side. But the problem that Soundwave's side was facing was the fact that Unicron's Extension, Scourge was on Starscream's. And because he was with Starscream, so was Cyclonus. They were two of the powerful Decepticons because of their connection with Unicron. Not to mention, that meant all of the Pretenders would be on Starscream's side. No Pretender went against Scourge's orders. 

Add the numbers up, Starscream had a bigger army against Soundwave's with the difference being at least ten. 

Still, Soundwave was putting up quite the fight about how he would make the better leader for the Decepticons. And his speech was starting to get to some of the Decepticons on Starscream's side. Some even started to cross the line, making it more even between both fractions. Spitfire knew what would happen if Starscream became the Leader. It would be a little easier to have the Decepticons crumble within, though she had become rather close with the Seeker. She would make sure to pull him out first before letting the Decepticons crumble. Or at least try to reason with him to becoming...more reasonable with the Autobots. With him leader, there might be a chance to pushing both Autobots and Decepticons to becoming Allies. 

But with Soundwave, there was no way of that happening. He was a ruthless and cold sparked individual but he was a true Decepticon who hated the Autobots. He especially loathed Hound. They matched each other's intelligence, though Soundwave had his days where he could outsmart the Autobot Intelligence Officer. But there were many days where Hound got him right back. So there was no way Spitfire could let Soundwave become the Leader of the Decepticons. 

However, Scourge, being very intelligent himself, seemed to have come up with an idea of how to resolve this problem. He had an idea of how to choose the new Decepticon Leader. 

"With the Autobots started to chase after Megatron for the All Spark," the rather mysterious Decepticon explained in a low voice. "It leaves us an open spot to take them out. But...I have it under good observation that Optimus Prime has left his scepter of power behind. The Matrix of Leadership is hidden somewhere on Cybertron." 

 

"What?" Sam interrupted again, earning a dry stare from Spitfire. He, like the others, were now interested in another thing that she had said. "What's the Matrix of Leadership?"

Spitfire sighed as she folded her arms, glancing at Hot Rod, who was starting to look very suspicious of her. Even Bumblebee was starting to tilt his head as he watched her carefully. It didn't take an idiot to realize that they were wary of her when she mentioned that particular object.

But after a moment, Bumblebee looked down at the four humans as they saw on their feet, listening to Spitfire's story carefully. "The Matrix of Leadership is a powerful object, Sam. Much like the All Spark, it gives off a powerful energy source. According to the stories, it was created along with the All Spark by the First Thirteen, obstructed by Primus, himself. It was almost as powerful as the All Spark. But it was to be used for a single Leader to have the power to Lead. It was what created the war between Autobots and Decepticons in the first place. One of the Thirteen, who actually happened to be created by Unicron, himself, had betrayed the Twelve Elders and tried to steal the Matrix for himself. And his master. That was one thing that Unicron wanted the most." He explained.

Hot Rod shook his head as he shrugged. "Problem was, the Twelve made sure that was given to a most trusted individual they thought best would protect it. Magnus Prime was the first Prime of the Autobots. That's kind of how the war began. Megatron, actually, is the oldest of the Decepticons. He tried challenging Magnus, demanding that he give up the title to him so he could have the Matrix's power. But it was not given to him and the Twelve warned Magnus that Megatron had evil intentions. They knew that if he got his claws on the Matrix, he would use it's power to conquer the entire Universe, which you already know is the Decepticons' goal." He exclaimed.

Spitfire nodded as she looked down at the four teenagers. "That's what Scourge had in mind. That's what he was after the Matrix, for Unicron."

"But I thought you said that Hot Rod got rid of him..." Elena said, frowning in confusion.

The answer was a nod from Spitfire as she looked down at her ward. "Yes. But even so, with the power of the Matrix, Scourge could use it to find Unicron and revive him from his battle wounds. That's why he suggested that whoever found the Matrix could be the Decepticon Leader." She shook her head. "It didn't matter to him who found it. He could almost manipulate either one to giving it up to him. Scourge was always good at manipulation. He was mostly counting on Starscream to find the Matrix. And it was because Starscream was counting on me to find it." She told them.

Hot Rod and Bumblebee frowned, again looking warily at Spitfire. "Wait a minute. Only Optimus knew where it was. There's no way you would know where it..." The Spy Changer was saying.

Spitfire looked dully at him. "Well I did. It was so obvious to me, Hot Rod. Where else would he have put it? Where else than the grave of Elita One?" She asked almost darkly.

 

Spitfire was not feeling good about the entire situation. She did not want to be any part of this but she knew that if she tried to back out of it, Starscream would get annoyed with her. She didn't want that to happen. Her friendship with him was the only chance of getting rid of the war between Autobots and Decepticons. So she had to go along with it. 

"I'm counting on you to finding it, Spitfire. You must find it for me." Starscream told her as he flew over head in his Cybertronian jet form and she was driving over the rocky terrain. 

After Scourge had told everyone his idea of finding the Matrix of Leadership and stealing it for the new Decepticon Leader, Starscream sent off his troops to scour the possible locations. They would keep in contact through their transmitters but it was Spitfire he was going to keep his optics on. He knew very well that it was more than likely she would find the Matrix. She still held onto her Autobot insignia, refusing to take the Decepticons' insignia. So there would be a chance of her getting past any Autobots that might be guarding the Matrix. That is, if she could find it. 

Taking a deep breath, Spitfire rolled ever so closer to the former Autobot Base where she had betrayed the Autobots in the first place. It had been long since Optimus Prime last used it, but there was still a chance there might be some kind of clue of where the Matrix was hidden. "I'll try to find it, Star. I'll do my best." She told the Seeker. 

There was only a light hmph from Starscream but he didn't reply for a long time as they grew much closer to the old base. So far, as he scanned the entire area, there was no Autobot Signatures. Most of the Autobots were at a different Base location. After Spitfire's betrayal, none of the Autobots trusted her enough to stay in one place again. She had no clue where the new base was at though. Not that she blamed them at all. 

It wasn't long before they found the old base. Together, Spitfire and Starscream stopped on the high cliffs above the base, looking down at the ruins. It was exactly how it was left hundreds of years ago at the time of Spitfire's betrayal. Seeing it again, however, made her wince as soon as she transformed. Starscream had seen the look but he didn't say anything. He was quiet for a long moment as he let Spitfire collect her bearings. 

After a while, Spitfire took another deep breath before starting to head on down, pausing once to look at Starscream as he caught her by the shoulder. She looked up into his fiery gaze, almost surprised. "Star?" She asked quietly. 

Starscream just stared at her for a moment before releasing her shoulder again, nodding for her to go on. "I'll stand watch. Just find it." He told her before transforming and taking to the sky to circle the perimeter. 

Spitfire watched him leave for a moment before she turned again and hurried down the trails towards the ruins. She was still very troubled about the entire situation and she wasn't even sure she should do this. She knew that the Matrix of Leadership should never be in the claws of anyone but the Prime. If she somehow managed to find it, she wondered if she could take it. It still troubled her thoughts as she approached the broken doors of the abandoned base. 

For a long time, Spitfire traveled the darkened corridors of the Autobot Base, looking room to room, trying to activate old logs that might help. She found nothing. Nothing but many years of dust, dying vegetation that managed to grow within the base halls. There was nothing for her to find. Just old, beaten metal walls that she remembered walking with Bumblebee beside her. Thinking of him hurt her. She felt a choke escape her as she stopped at an old room, one that once belonged to her best friend. It was the one room where she would sit with him for hours and talk about their adventures of battling Decepticons. 

Spitfire stood in the dark door way, looking into the even darker quarters that once belonged to Bumblebee, her arms folded across her chest. She stared with great sadness in her optics, looking around at broken metal cot where Bee had once recharged. It was a painful memory to recall in this place. 

"Oh...Bumblebee." She murmured before a sudden thought hit her. 

Her optics brightening a little, Spitfire turned around and hurried through the dark halls again, deeper into the living quarters until she paused before a door way into another living quarters. There was a signature right above the door, but it looked like it was being blocked off by something. This was once the living quarters of Elita One. There was some kind of barrier blocking the doors. Spitfire recognized several round objects on each corner of the doorframes as one of Hound's inventions. She distinctively remembered that if they were broken in anyway or an invisible laser line was interrupted, there would be an explosion. The only way of getting past it was to figure out the vocal password. She remembered from experience by facing Hound's inventions before. 

Letting out a deep breath, Spitfire stepped forward, closer to the door. "Autobot Valkyrie, reporting. Permission to enter." She said loud and clear. 

There was a loud beep from the round devices before they flashed. "Access Denied. Password is required to enter." came a voice, but it surprised Spitfire. That wasn't Hound's voice. Hound always recorded his voice into his own inventions that dealt with noise and such. But that wasn't his voice. 

It was Optimus Prime's. 

Realization dawned on Spitfire immediately as she stood there, stumped. She realized exactly who had placed these objects there and she knew why. "Optimus." She said, almost fondly. She could only trust Optimus Prime to protect what he needed so cautiously. Nodding once, she cleared her voice processor and lift her head. She had to think of the password, but what could it have been? There were so many possibilities. "Hmm. Password activation," She paused as the spheres clicked. "Autobots." 

"Access Denied." 

"Elita One." 

"Access Denied." 

Spitfire sighed before she began saying passwords after passwords. She had to find the right password somehow. So she would try every word she knew that Optimus might have used in his life before. 

Unfortunately, after nearly an hour of trying to think of the right password, Spitfire was getting so fed up now. She had already received several messages from Starscream, demanding to know what was going on. She had told him that she was still looking every time but he was starting to get irritating with bugging her almost every ten minutes. She did her best to ignoring him. She just went on with trying password after password but nothing was working. 

Feeling highly irritated and frustrated, Spitfire slammed her back against the opposite wall and slowly slid down to the ground, her arms resting over her head. She felt like her hope was falling too fast. "This is hopeless. How I can make a difference in this war?! I really wish Optimus had been right. I wish I did have a choice to decide what to do. I wish that all sentient beings did have the right to choose for their selves..." 

Click. 

"Lock One Deactivated." 

Spitfire's head shot up when she heard that and looked up to see that one of the spheres was green. She was startled. How did that happen? What had she said to deactivate the lock? Pushing herself to her feet, she moved over to the orbs again and stared at them. "I really wish Optimus had been right?" 

Nothing happened. 

"Um...I wish I did have a choice to decide what to do?" 

Again, nothing happened. 

Spitfire frowned as she stared at the orbs with narrowed optics before it suddenly dawned on her what she had said. She remembered that Optimus had always told the Autobots the same thing over and over again. "All sentinent beings have the right to choose for their selves." 

Click. Click. Click. 

"Access Granted." 

The remaining three orbs turned green and the door clicked open. Spitfire stood there, almost so surprised. She couldn't believe she had figured it out. It had been so simple. It was one of Optimus Prime's own quotes about the war. He had always believed that one should choose for their self of what path they should walk. Spitfire felt her head lower a little as she let the words nearly echo in her mind and she remembered that she did have a choice at the time of her betrayal. She could have chosen a different path. Even if it seemed hopeless, there had been a choice for her to make. And she chose to not believe that she had a choice.

Sighing softly as she took a few steps towards the room. "Do I really have a choice now?" She asked herself before stepping into the darkened room. Only of beam of light through a covered window shone into the room, trailing onto something that made Spitfire freeze. If she could gasp, she would have. She had not been expecting to see the body of Elita One still resting on her recharge cot, looking as if she was just asleep. 

Feeling so uneasy and shame within her core, Spitfire carefully stepped closer, looking at Elita One. She felt herself starting to break a little as she stared at her former friend. Her sister in combat. She was still there. She was still at the base. The Autobot Base that Spitfire had betrayed the Autobots had become Elita One's grave site. 

"Elita." Spitfire sighed as she went over to her former friend and dropped down to one knee, just to respect her. She felt so ashamed of what happened to her. She would do anything to take it back, what she had done. In the beginning, Elita One had been nothing but kind to her and this was how she had repaid her. "What have I done to you, Elita? My sister," She murmured before dropping her head onto Elita's shoulder, letting out a low sigh. "I wish I could take it back. I wish you were still alive, Elita One. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to you, Red Alert, everyone. It's all my fault that this happened to you. Now you're here, collecting dust like some kind of...collection. You should be alive, with Optimus, laughing and smiling." Another sad sigh escaped from Spitfire. "I wish I could take it all back." 

There was nothing but silence. 

And for a long time, Spitfire knelt beside Elita One's body, her head resting against the cold metal shoulder. She stayed that way for a while before finally bringing her head up to look at Elita's face. But they stopped when she saw something. There was something under Elita's hand. Frowning, Spitfire carefully wrapped her hand around Elita's wrist and lift it up, only to freeze. 

There was a small double blade with a light glowing blue gem in the middle the thick strands of metal. Each end of the blades were shaped like skeletal pyramids, yet the tips were no doubt sharp. It was an amazing piece of Cybertronian art, if it really was art. 

But just by looking at it, Spitfire knew what it was. And she couldn't believe it. She had found the Matrix of Leadership. 

Marveled by it, Spitfire carefully reached over and gently wrapped her hand around the middle of the blades. It was almost as big as her hand. The cool metal felt as if it was vibrating, as if it had a pulse. She couldn't believe she got to see the Matrix of Leadership. No one really got to see it other than the Prime. But here it was. In her hand. 

"I have it." Spitfire murmured. 

Suddenly, Spitfire heard voices, startling her out of her thoughts and making her look at the door. She couldn't make out what the voices were saying but they were getting closer. Wrapping her hands around the Matrix, she quickly went to stand behind the door and peered through the crack into the dark corridor. The voices were getting closer by the minute. And within a few more minutes, she finally could make them out. 

It was Scourge and Sideways. 

They were talking about something but at the distance they were at, it was difficult for Spitfire to make out their words. She had to really strain to hear them. And after they got closer, she finally could. 

"...makes you think that Starscream is actually going to fall for your little scheme, Scourge? He's not going to do it!" Sideways complained. 

Scourge snorted loudly as he stopped in the hall, probably several feet away from the room where Spitfire was hiding. She couldn't see him but she could hear him better now. "He'll go for it, Sideways. If he really wants to be the Decepticon Leader, he'll do it. And don't doubt that he won't find the Matrix of Leadership. He's got his little girlfriend looking for it too." He was now speaking almost darkly at this part. "The little Autobot glitch will find the Matrix, Sideways. You should know that she will. She might have betrayed the Autobots, but she's still one of them. And only few of us know that only an Autobot can locate the Matrix of Leadership. It's all in the ancient scribes that Lord Unicron stole from the Council libraries before the entire government fell. Only the children of Primus, which we all know are the Autobots, can find the key to Ultimate Power." He snorted again. "That's why Starscream started pretending that he was friends with that little Glitch. He's been after the Matrix all along." 

Spitfire's optics flashed brightly as she stared at the wall further away from her. She felt as if her spark was going to drop right out of her chest plate. 'St-Star...' She thought to herself. 

"Is that so? I always wondered why he even bothered with her. I had always thought he might have a thing for her because she's cute." Sideways said, thoughtfully. 

"Please, Sideways. Starscream? Think an Autobot femme cute? He despises the very word exquisite. He might think she's amusing because she's always beating the slag out of you! But he loathes her. She's the only one that can find the Matrix out of all of us." Scourge remarked. 

"But what about Soundwave? What if he finds it before she does?" 

"Soundwave is a genius, Sideways. But he's also an idiot. He won't find it. He's not even looking for it. He's waiting for Starscream to finding it so he could attack him and take it from him. He'll probably offline that damned Seeker as it is. Good riddance, I say. It'll be so much easier if they just kill each other so that we can take it and find out where Unicron was sent to." 

There was a pause outside the corridor before Sideways hummed quietly. "What about the Autobots? Spitfire will be more than likely wanting to try and end the war between the Decepticons and the Autobots. She might even try to talk Starscream into just calling the war quits if he becomes the Decepticon Leader." 

"Did you not hear what I said, Sideways? Starscream is using her. It's not the other way around. Yeah, she's trying to convince him that there might be a better way of resolving the solution. But he has so much hate for Optimus Prime, himself. Didn't you ever know that once upon a time that Starscream and the Prime used to be rivals in science? He used to be a scientist, studying the Time and Space gates. Some fool called Optronix before he became Optimus Minor. Then bam, he becomes the new Prime after Megatron killed Sentinel Prime. Starscream wouldn't do anything else but try and rip the Prime's head off and melt it down for better uses." He explained. "As for Little Spitfire, once Starscream has the Matrix, she's no use to him. He's planning on offlining her, you know. Putting the little Glitch out of her misery of being among Decepticons as an Autobot Betrayer. Come on. Let's go see if anyone's found it yet." 

Spitfire listened to the footsteps of the two vile Decepticons as they left, staring at the wall in shock. She felt as if her spark was ripping into two. Did they really mean what they said? Was she really just a tool for Starscream to use? She knew she had been using him a little too but she meant him no harm. She wanted to continue being his friend. His comrade. She wanted to repair the bonds between Autobots and Decepticons with him as the Leader of the Decepticons. But was it really all just a muse for her to find the Matrix in the first place?

Her spark feeling as if broken, Spitfire lowered her gaze to the Matrix of Leadership in her hands. She didn't know what to do anymore. She didn't know what to believe. "Starscream..." 

"Starcream?" Spitfire spoke into her comlink, trying to connect with the Seeker. 

It took a long moment for anything to come in before she heard the com link crackle to life. By the sounds of the background, Starscream was flying around in his alter form. He must have been pretty high up in the air for it. "Spitfire! Did you find it?!" Starscream's voice asked over the link. 

Spitfire was quiet for a long time as she leaned against the wall, staring up at the dark sky high above Cybertron. She couldn't believe she was going to do this but if what Scourge had said was true, she had to make her decision. "Starscream, I have to ask you something." She said. 

"...what is it?! Do you have the Matrix of Leadership or not?!" Starscream demanded. 

She was used to him demanding of things in such an impatient way. But she wasn't in the mood to argue with him right now. "Forget the fragging Matrix, Starscream! This is more important! At least it is to me! What will you do if I give you the Matrix of Leadership?!" She demanded, her voice very hard. "Are you planning on killing me because I won't be any further use to you?!" 

There was a long silence before Spitfire heard the sounds of Starscream transforming, following by a loud thud as he landed heavily onto the Cybertronian ground. "What are you talking about, Spitfire?! Why are you asking me that...?!" 

"If I was no longer use to you, Starscream, would you kill me?!" Spitfire demanded, her voice hardening. 

There was another long silence between the two before Starscream started to growl. "If you were no longer use to me, then yes! I would kill you, Spitfire! But you will always have some use to me, so no! I won't kill you! Now, answer me! Do you have the Matrix of Leadership?!" 

Spitfire stood there, her spark sinking a little but she did her best to keeping a brave face. She had to play her cards right. She was just hoping that it wasn't going to lead her in the direction she thought it would. "Star, is that all want?! The Matrix of Leadership?! Starscream, if you became the Decepticon Leader, and because we are friends, would you ever consider ending the war with the Autobots peacefully and become their allies?!" She demanded. 

There was a silence between Spitfire and Starscream, but the growl coming through her comlink told her enough. "End the war peacefully?! Become the Autobot scums' allies?! Have you lost your processor, Spitfire?! Decepticons and Autobots do NOT mix! We will never be allies! This battle will end when one destroys the other! You know that! I know that!" Starscream snapped on the comlink. "NOW! Do you have the Matrix of Leadership or not, Spitfire?!" 

All she could do was stare into the darkness of night, Spitfire could. She didn't say anything for a very long time. It was all she needed to hear. Starscream was not willing to end the war in her favor. He wanted to destroy the Autobots just like Megatron did. All he wanted was the power of the Matrix. It broke Spitfire's spark a little but she should have known this might happen. She should have known that he was probably using her to finding the Matrix of Leadership. And she would not let him have it. Not him, not Soundwave, and Pit if she could help it, not Scourge or Sideways or even Unicron! Her optics darkened and narrowed as she stared out into the darkness. 

"Spitfire! Answer me!" Starscream ordered. 

"No!" Spitfire snapped as she shoved herself off the wall and started walking down the corridor of Tyger Pax. 

"What?!" 

Spitfire shook her head as she began to hurry, trying to get to her destination. She couldn't be on Cybertron when Starscream tried to push the button to activate her torture device. She had to be out of range when he did. "I said no, Starscream! I can't believe I even considered you a friend! You were planning on offlining me once you had the Matrix of Leadership, weren't you?! It's just like Scourge and Sideways said! All you ever wanted was the Matrix! I thought we were friends, Starscream!" She snapped. 

"Spitfire, I do not know what the Pit you are talking about, but I never said we were friends! Comrades, maybe! But friends?! Are you out of your fragging processor?! Where are you?!" Starscream demanded as the sound of him transforming exploded through the channel. 

"Tyger Pax." Spitfire answered as she ripped open the door to enter the launch base. It was the Tyger Pax Launch Center. This was one of the few places where a Cybertronian could leave their home planet and out into the darkness of space. It was how most Autobots and Decepticons left to explore the Universe. She knew that almost all of the Autobots had gone through this Launch base to begin their search for the All Spark. And this was how she was going to leave. She had had enough of the madness of her planet. 

"WHAT!? What are you doing there, Spitfire?!" Starscream nearly screamed into the comlink, making Spitfire wince a little. 

She, however, ignored his ranting and raving as she ran right up to the control center and started pushing buttons. She had to prepare the launch as fast as she could. She knew it would only take Starscream five minutes to reach Tyger Pax if he was flying. She hoped that she only needed a few minutes to be off and on her way. "I'm leaving, Starscream! I'm doing what you guys made me do to Optimus Prime and Bumblebee! I'm BETRAYING the Decepticons! And I'm taking the Matrix of Leadership with me! I'm taking it back to Optimus!" She yelled into her link before she pushed the launch countdown button and ran to the launch tube. 

"Spitfire! STOP! Give me the Matrix of Leadership!" Starscream began screaming into the link.

The Ex-Valkyrie ignored him as she quickly climbed into the Launch tube and began her transformation into the form of a pod. She had only a minute before she would be launched out into Outer Space, sailing across the stars to her destination. She didn't know where she would go but she didn't care. She just had to get out of there before...

Suddenly, a sharp electric jolt exploded from Starscream's device, turning into excruciating pain as it attacked every metallic fiber of her body frame. Spitfire screamed as she tried to brace herself, trying so hard not to writhe back into her true form. If that happened and the launch finished, she could destroy herself. She knew that it was Starscream. He was getting closer to Tyger Pax and he had activated the device. She could only scream and groan as the pain grew worst as it stayed on. "ST-STARSCREAM!" She gasped before there was another explosion as the countdown finally ended with 0. She felt a strong pressure shoot all around her and shoved her through the tube at mach speed. The excruciating pain was still there though as she was hurtled into the dark sky, sped through the Ozone surrounding Cybertron before it slowly began to die. 

Spitfire barely had the chance to pry open an optic to look out of her pod form and see the Seeker barely arriving at the Tyger Pax station and looking up at her in rage as she passed through atmosphere. 

"SPI...(radio static)...SPITFIRE! I'LL...KILL! YOU!" That was the last time Spitfire heard from Starscream for a very long time. 

All the Ex-Valkyrie could do was relax and enter emergency recharge until her journey was over. She knew that she would slip out of stasis once she reached some kind of destination so she would prepare herself for a landing. With her luck, it'd probably kill her but at least the Matrix of Leadership would be safe from the Decepticons. 

 

Spitfire ended her story. All she could do was tell the four humans and the two male Autobots that last bit with how she launched herself into space. "Well, nearly about fifty years of traveling through space, I finally came to Earth's orbit. I didn't land for several days but just circle the planet, scanning it for any Cybertronian signatures, just in case someone was here. I found Megatron's signature." She explained. "At first I was uneasy about coming down. But after studying his signature for a few days, I realized what happened to him. He was in a frozen state. He wasn't moving or doing anything. So I came down, watching and waiting for him to do something. But he never moved. I later out that he was under human supervision by the Sector Seven branch. I'm afraid I might have alerted them a little. You know that whole Roswell incident in 1947?" She waited for the astonished looks from all four teenagers before she smiled and nodded. "That was me. I came down in Roswell, New Mexico and the Government thought I was some kind of spacecraft. But the whole story about them finding anything is a complete lie. They didn't find anything but the so called radiation that was emitting off of me. I had already taken the form of an early car and was taking off before the Government even came close to finding me. And I've been mostly on my own ever since until Elena's father bought me as the Lotus Elise."

No one could speak for a long time as they let every word just catch up to them, though Hot Rod was looking at Spitfire with almost shock and disbelief. He obviously wasn't taking this whole thing very well.

"So..." Sam began frowning. "You have the Matrix of Leadership with you right now? Why didn't you give it back to..."

Spitfire shook her head, still watching Hot Rod as he snapped out of his stupor and started glaring at her as if she had done something seriously wrong. She was almost amused by the whole thing as she tore her gaze away from the Spy Changer and looked down at Sam. "No. I don't have it. I've hidden it and no one will every find it unless I told them where it was." She merely glanced at Hot Rod. "I will tell Optimus where it is soon though. I promise. I just can't tell him right now because of this device inside of me. Starscream's triggered it to record and transmit it's location if I say where it is. He is genius, you know." She told him.

Hot Rod remaining giving her a very dark, suspicious look but Bumblebee just nodded as he stepped forward. He seemed to be the only one out of the two that was taking it well about her having the Matrix. "Please make sure you do give it back to Optimus. It belongs to the Prime and him alone." He simply said.

Spitfire looked at him, rather softly. She was grateful towards her former best friend, even if she knew he shouldn't be treating her like a comrade so quickly. "I will. I swear on Primus' name." She promised.

After hearing that, even Hot Rod relaxed before he turned away from her and looking away. "We should keep going. The sooner we get to the Lincoln Residence, the better." He announced, already transforming into the Electric Blue Porsch. He opened the driver's side door just as Trent approached it, letting him climb in. Bumblebee and Spitfire followed his suite, letting the other three climb inside of them before all three were off again.

For a long time, no one said anything as they let Spitfire's story replay in their heads, taking everything into thought. It was kind of a sad story but there was still one thing that bothered Sam and Mikaela, and probably Elena and Trent.

"Spitfire?" Mikaela was the one to ask over Bumblebee's transmitter.

"Hmm? Yes, Mikaela?" Spitfire's voice replied.

Mikaela bit her lip, chewing on it for a moment before she shrugged, looking somewhat curious as she hugged herself. She was sure that the others were thinking the same thing as she was but she was going to be the one to ask it. "Your friendship with Starscream, even if it turned bad. Was it worth it?" She asked Spitfire.

There was a long silence as if Spitfire was considering the question. She probably was too. There was no real way of figuring out how Hot Rod might be thinking about that answer, nor would he probably like what Spitfire was going to say. But after a long moment of considering the question, Spitfire answered.

"Yes, Mikaela. It was worth it. Even if Starscream was planning on using me, I did see a side of him that no Decepticon would ever see. I know with all my spark that he wasn't playing it either. I could see it whenever he talked to me that he enjoyed our conversations as much as I had. It might be a little hard to read someone like Starscream, but when you know how to look, it's easy. So yes. My friendship with Starscream was worth it." 

As it was the answer, for some reason, Mikaela, Sam, Elena and even Trent was satisfied with that answer. Even Bumblebee took it with some respect. Hot Rod did not say or do anything but in a way, he considered it to be a good thing too. Even if he didn't trust Spitfire, she did know the Seeker a lot better than anyone else and she could tell them anything if she needed to.


	16. Meet The Parents

It was easy to say that when the three Autobot cars drove up to the Lincoln residence, Sam and Mikaela were both gawking with jaws dropped and eyes wide. They could not believe the size of the house. Here, they knew that Elena was from a well fortunate family, yet her house was a normal size. It was two story building but it no doubt was wide enough to have many rooms. There were at least twelve windows on the front of the house so that meant that there were at least six rooms facing the entrance. But with the rest, it looked like there might have been more rooms than they could believe in.

Even though the house looked rather normal though, the house was surrounded by several acres of land. There were horses out in the fields, so they must have belonged to Elena's family. She probably went riding every now and then up to the hills that surrounded her home. There was a large stable barn near the fields with at least three corrals surrounding it. As for the rest of the yard, there was a gorgeous garden blooming everywhere. From basic roses to daffodils and even berry hedges to large, tall palm trees, the garden was no doubt very exquisite. And judging from the large backyard, it probably looked more like an exotic garden. There was even a huge five door garage near the round about in front of the house, probably where all of the cars were kept. And that probably included Spitfire.

There was a nice looking lady swinging on a swing of the patio sized porch, reading a book as she sipped tea. But she looked up when she saw the cars approaching. Even from where they were sitting, Sam and Mikaela were sure they saw a relieved smile on the lady's face as she stopped herself from swinging with one foot before pushing herself to her feet. She was already moving to the stairs to come down and greet them, her hand already raised.

The three cars parked in the front in an almost straight line. Sam and Mikaela were hesitant to climbing out of Bumblebee. They both, however, froze when they saw another girl climbing out of Spitfire with Elena. It took them a moment to realize that it was Spitfire's human form.

The holographic molecular image human form that Spitfire was using was female, with not a doubt there. Her human form, however, was almost just as exquisite as Arcee's had been. The human girl she was using was almost as tall as Mikaela and she looked only a few years older than all three, Sam, Mikaela and even Trent. She was tall and slender, definitely leggy and she had long, wavy, fiery reddish orange hair spilling down her back. Long fiery bangs hung over her bright whitish-blue eyes, taking almost the color of ice seriously. She was wearing a black wifebeater tank under a deep red quarter cut shirt, which the buttons were undone. She was wearing dark blue, tight jeans with ankle high boots hover the bottoms. She was a definitely a sweet for the eyes.

"Well, look who's come home finally." The woman on the porch spoke, her voice thick with a Southern accent. She was no doubt from somewhere near Texas or Lousianna. The other teens and their Guardians took the moment to look her over, studying her appearence. She had graying black hair, cut in a cute bob. Her eyes were friendly and deep brown, and trained on directly on Elena as she approached them, holding her arms wide open. "It's 'bout time you decided to come back, Missy." She told her.

Elena just smiled and shook her blonde hair back before hurrying over and giving the woman a tight hug before backing away. "Sorry, Nikki. Ember and I were having too much fun with some of our friends." She told the woman.

Sam, Mikaela, Trent and the two holograms that joined them glanced over at Spitfire's as she placed her hands onto her slender waist, smiling brightly at the woman. They had picked up the hint that Ember was Spitfire's human name. They knew very well that it suited her because it was nearly what her real name was.

The woman, Nikki nodded as she looked directly at Spitfire and smiled brightly right at her. "Hey, Lil Spitfire." She didn't even notice everyone tense up when she said the Ex-Autobot's real name, who didn't pay any attention to them at all. "You know, you two need to stop taking off whenever you feel like it without giving me some kind of warning. It'd be nice if you gave me a head's up."

Spitfire merely shrugged, smiling as innocently as she could. "Sorry, Nikki. My idea. We kind of got distracted." She said, merely glancing at the others.

Nikki nodded as she laughed before looking at the others. She looked each one of them over, almost as if she was appraising them before giving a short laugh when she stopped her eyes onto Trent, who actually was looking away. So it was obvious to the others that they knew each other and the jock probably didn't like her too much or was too easily embarrassed with her. "Well, hello, Mister Trenton. It's been a while since you've came out this way." She simply said.

Trent glanced at the others before shaking his head at Nikki. "Yeah, Ms. Valentine. I know." He murmured.

Nikki just shook her head as she narrowed her eyes, still looking friendly towards him. She didn't seem to approve his short answer but decided to saying anything else as she looked at the others. "Elena, who's your friends?" She asked.

Elena smiled brightly as she pulled away from Nikki and hurried over to Sam's other side, linking her arm with his other one, while Mikaela was giving her a somewhat look of warning. "Ms Nikki Valentine, these are my and Ember's friends. This is Sam Witwicky." She announced Sam's name while placing her hand on his chest, which had him stiffen up. She ignored it though as she motioned to Mikaela next, who was eyeing her with a frown. "That's Mikaela Banes. She's that wonderful mechanic that Mr. Reno Banes told us about."

Mikaela's mood lightened just a little.

Nikki Valentine, however, just lightly laughed, her fist resting against her chin as she watched the interaction between Elena and Mikaela before she looked Sam over. She didn't really show anything of what she might be thinking about him. He was blushing slightly though and she found that amusing. But she didn't say anything. Next, Elena moved around to Bumblebee's holoform and placed her hand onto his arm, which he did tend to look a little shy as he rubbed the back of his neck. "This is..." Elena paused frowning before looking at Bumblebee. She never really got his human name now that she thought about it.

Bumblebee hesitated as he looked right at her then back at Nikki, perking up. "Uh...Bradley." He piped up, smiling sheepishly. "Everyone calls me Bee."

Nikki smiled almost as if she was fond of him already, her eyes very friendly as she looked directly into his bright blue ones. She nodded only once before lowering her fist to her side. "Bee." She nodded again as if approving. "You got a last name or is just Bradley?" She asked, almost teasingly.

"Witwicky." Sam said immediately, catching her attention. "Brad Witwicky. He's my cousin."

Everyone only had to smile with his sudden idea of making Bumblebee his cousin. It was quick thinking and nicely done because Nikki sure bought it. She had just nodded before looking over at Hot Rod's Holoform next. Elena practically skipped over to his side next, smiling even brighter. "And this is Rod." She announced.

Hot Rod just smiled before waving a hand. "Rod Hottins. Nice to meet ya." He said, in a most friendly way and winking at the older woman. It was almost the same way he talked to Arcee, which had a few snort and roll their eyes. They knew he was just trying to put on a charming act, like always.

Nikki laughed either way as she nodded and placed her hand onto her waist. "Nice to meet all of you. I'm just so glad that Elena has finally brought some friends over." She ignored the fact that Elena started blushing just a little, giving her a look. She just motioned towards the house. "Well, don't just stand there, kids. Come in and I'll fix you a spot of lemonade." She then pointed at Elena. "And you, young lady, need to go see your father. I bet he's been right down worried about you." She told her before going inside.

Everyone hesitated while Elena and Spitfire were already moving towards the porch. Mikaela, especially as she stared at the blonde's back. But they hurried after, entering the nice house. "Elena," The dark haired girl said, frowning. "I thought you said that your father was in a coma."

Elena, Spitfire and Trent all just nodded, all knowingly. They knew very well what Nikki had meant earlier and all they could do was nod and shrug at the same time. "He is." Elena explained, smiling as she was already moving towards the stairs, which were directly in front of the front door, leading to the second floor of the Lincoln residence. "In my house, we really don't talk like he's in a coma. It keeps up the spirit in the house. We like to think that he's up and about. It helps us relax a little about him. The doctor who has been working with him says that it's better to talk to my father in his coma. It gives him a better chance to waking up from it."

Slowly, everyone nodded as they took in the information. They figured that she knew what she was talking about. So they just followed her up the stairs and through the halls of the house. They couldn't help but admire many of the works of art that the Lincolns had hanging on the walls. They weren't all fancy like most rich families had but they were nice. Most of the portraits that Elena's families had hanging on the walls were scenery pictures but there were quite a few car and truck posters hanging up on the walls. Some were several decades of the Lotus series. One was even of the 2010 Lotus Elise that Spitfire had taken the form of.

Elena finally came to a room she just pushed the door open and went into, and the others followed after her. Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and Hot Rod hesitated in the doorway though when they found what was in the room.

The room was a very nice room; large as a big family room. The walls were painted a gentle blue with a sea look to it. There were a few lighthouse portraits hanging on the walls, along with many different types of seas and ocean pictures from different parts of the world. There was even mother of pearl colored furniture all around the room with many sea decors sitting on the dressers. Seashells and star fishes even hung on the walls, giving it an ocean feeling about it.

"Whoa. The guy liked the ocean, right?" Sam found himself asking, then getting sharply nudged by Mikaela.

Elena, Spitfire and Trent all smiled with short laughs as they glanced around. The pretty blonde with a red highlight nodded as she went straight to the man lying motionlessly on the four poster bed with a fish net curtain hanging high above. "Yeah. Dad is crazy about the ocean. He's actually from the Virgin Islands. Or at least he was born there." She explained. "He actually used to be an Oceanographer and Marine Biologist. He absolutely loves the ocean life."

Trent nodded as he went around to the other side of Timothy Lincoln's bed, motioning to him. "Yeah. He actually went swimming with sharks once, just to get pictures of them. My dad always thought he was a crazy geek but this guy did things that he'd never, ever do. He never really approved of him marrying my aunt but hey, Aunt Dee loved him." He told them.

Sam and Mikaela's eyes lit up quite a bit with amazement before they approached the bed to look at the man, who was hooked up to a heart monitor. For someone in a coma, Mr. Lincoln sure looked healthy. He was slightly pale and thin but otherwise, he looked more like he was asleep. Elena seemed to take some of his looks for he had pale blonde hair, which probably fell right down to his shoulders in a shaggy style. He was quite handsome for someone not so active, so it was no wonder how Elena's mother fell in love with the guy.

"He looks nice." Mikaela said, admiring Elena's father.

Elena only smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed and reached over, gently brushing back the long bangs hanging in Tim Lincoln's face. She looked like she really was grateful to that remark. "He is. He was always kind to people and even helped out a lot in charities. He always believed that helping the world was the best thing to do. He thought that if he did all of that, helping the homeless, feeding them, helping with the Earth's problems, all the bad stuff would go away." She told them but her face fell a little. "But look what happened to him. Because of me..."

"Don't you dare, Elena." Spitfire suddenly said, her tone very stern and she was looking at her just as serious. "Stop blaming yourself for what happened. It was an accident and I know for a fact that if your father heard you talking like that, he'd be so upset. If this is about what your grandfather said to you..."

Trent suddenly made a disgusted sound as his face fell and he stared at Elena. "What the hell did Grandpa Al say to you this time, Elena?" He asked, seeming to know exactly what they were talking about.

Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and Hot Rod frowned as they glanced at one another, looking rightfully confused. They didn't understand. "What do you mean?" The dark haired girl asked, sounding concerned. Like the other three were thinking, this didn't sound too good to her.

Spitfire sighed as she folded her arms and sank down in a chair in the corner of the room, looking from one person to the next. She looked rather annoyed about the entire idea but concerned at the same time. "Elena and Trent's grandfather, Albert Lincoln. Well, he's more Elena's father's creator. He doesn't even claim her mother's side of the family. So he doesn't even acknowledge Trent as apart of the family." She shrugged as she glanced over at Trent, who didn't look hurt about it at all. He didn't look like he cared either way. "Anyway, he hates Elena. He blames her for what happened to him." She said, looking pointingly at Tim Lincoln.

Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and Hot Rod glanced at one another, looking rather put out about that before looking back at Spitfire and then to Elena. Slowly, the dark haired girl shook her head. "But...that wasn't entirely Elena's fault. It was an accident. He was hit by a car saving Elena's life!" Mikaela said, coming to Elena's defense.

Elena smiled almost saddly but shook her head. "Grandpa Albert doesn't see it that way. He sees it as a teenage girl who tried to run away home only that her father tried to stop her and he suffered the consequences for it." She told them lightly shrugging. "He and mom had a huge fight about me after it happened and that's kind of what driven her to drinking so much. She refused to let him blame me like that, though I think she blamed me, herself. She just won't admit it. Grandpa even tried to demand sending me away from here, away from my father. He wanted to send me to some boarding school across the ocean, in Germany. Mom refused. She didn't want me so far from home." She explained to everyone, folding her hands into her lap as she sat right next her father, looking down at him with a sad smile. "We all know father wouldn't allow it either. I think that's why mom put up such a big fight about it."

"Thing is," Spitfire spoke up, her arms tightening around herself. "Albert Lincoln visits frequently, so I won't be surprised if he shows up today or anything. And when he does visit, he likes to make some pretty nasty jibs at Elena. He puts her down every time he sees her. Nikki and I are the only ones who tell him to shut up."

Sam shook his head as he glanced at Elena then back at Spitfire. "But that's not fair. She's just 16 years old. What happened with her father...she was just a kid. It was an accident. Wouldn't he know that her father wouldn't stand by that?" He asked, frowning.

Spitfire, Elena and Trent glanced at one another before looking back at him and shaking their heads. "It doesn't matter to him. Elena was the cause that anything happened to him. Accident or not. Even if Uncle Tim did jump in front of a car to save her, Albert is not going to see it like that. To him, Elena is the girl who killed his son." The jock told him, sounding rather bitter. "My dad really hates him. He might not like Uncle Tim, but he adores Elena. So whenever he's around Albert, bad things tend to happen."

"Well, anyway," Elena said, sounding very cheerful. "Why don't I show you around the place?"

Smiling slowly, everyone glanced at one another before nodding. They needed something else to think about right now. Thinking about Elena's grandfather wasn't helping any and plus the three Autobots wanted to get to know the area so that if Decepticons did attack, they would know the area.

It was very quiet between both men as they just sat in the car, looking towards the house that they finally had pulled up to. It was an awkward silence but it was quiet. Epps was trying to think of something to ask Mirage about, though he wasn't too sure if the guy would actually tell him anything. He was a little grumpy, almost as grumpy as Sunstreaker. So it was easy to say that he was a little bored after sitting out in front of the house for about an hour.

A few times, Epps almost drifted off and fell asleep after being so bored. But he kept himself from doing so every time there came an irritated sigh from the guy next to him.

"If you need to recharge," Mirage finally spoke up after such a long silence, breaking Epps out of his thoughts. "You may do so. Just do not dispose any...salival substances on me, if you can help it."

Epps stared at the human form of Mirage for a moment as he tried to think about what the hell he just said before making a face and giving him a look. "Dude, did you just tell me not to drool in my sleep?" He recieved a look right back from the Stealth Officer, which he chose to ignore. "Man, I don't drool. A'ight? I mean, as I kid I used but seriously. And I don't need to...recharge." The dark skinned Soldier told him making a wide eyed look at the remark. "I'm just bored outta my mind. Can we at least turn on some music to listen to, man?"

Mirage stared blankly at Epps before heaving a huge sigh as if it was the biggest chore to do and the radio kicked on to some classic music. "Is that better?" He asked, somewhat annoyed.

Making a horrified face, Epps shook his head before he reached forward and began to spin the radio dial, earning a disgruntled sound from the Autobot; holo form and car. "Oh, hell. No. You want music, you want this." He said before grinning as he put the music on some Hip Hop with D12 blaring out of Mirage's sound system. He almost started to laugh at the look on Mirage's human face when he heard the lyrics. "What? You don't like?"

There was a pause from the Autobot before he looked away from Epps. "I can not see why your kind would listen to something like this. Looking up this music on the Web, the words in the so called song is about someone shooting and murdering people and causing a massive fight between people. You're kind is so violent." He said, sounding rather disgruntled.

Epps made a face right back at him before quickly flipping the dial to some alternative rock and leaving it there. "Excuse me, buddy. Human, here, remember? That song wasn't about causing a massive fight. There are other definitions for riots. Some are having huge parties and such as that. Dancing, talking, enjoying yourself. You tellin' me that you haven't ever had some kind of party on Cybertron?" He asked raising an eyebrow at the Stealth officer.

Mirage gave him a blank stare. "There was never a cause of celebration on Cybertron in my lifetime, Sergeant Epps. There still isn't." He remarked.

"Not yet. But when this war is over, between Autobots, humans and the Cons, there will be a time to celebrate." Epps said, trying to sound optimistic and not be annoyed with him. He knew very well that Mirage must have lead a pretty rough life after hearing about some of the stories of Cybertron. He didn't know much about the Stealth Officer but if he had a life just like the other Autobots, then it had to be rough. He even remembered what Optimus had said about what happened after the femme, Spitfire had betrayed the Autobots. It must have hit Mirage pretty hard after getting betrayed like that only to end up working with her so many years later. He wasn't too sure if he trusted her, himself. If she worked with someone like Starscream, then he wasn't sure about her.

There was a light hum from the holoform right next to him before he shook his head. "You make it sound so simple to celebrate anything, Sergeant Epps."

"It is easy." Epps said offering Mirage a smile before reaching over and nudging his shoulder, surprising the Autobot a little. "Come on, man. I know you've been through Hell, or the Pit in this war. But that was on Cybertron. You're on Earth. There is so much to celebrate about. You've got a new home."

There was an almost awkward pause between the two before Mirage's bright blue eyes flickered away from him, looking off. He didn't seem too happy to hear that but he wasn't bothered either. "Earth...Earth is an interesting world, I shall admit. But I don't think I can consider it my new home. I miss Cybertron too much." He finally spoke after a long pause. There was a distant sad look on his human eyes and Epps really couldn't blame him.

In fact, the Black American soldier sympathized for him, smiling faintly before lightly nudging Mirage again. "Of course you do, buddy. It was your home. You were born, or at least created there. Cybertron will always be your home. But think of Earth as your second home." He told him.

For a brief moment, Mirage stared at him emotionlessly. He didn't seem to be thinking about it at all. But after a few minutes of taking his words into consideration, the usually cold and stoic Autobot's face softened and his human lips curved a little. He actually looked thoughtful and it was a nice look for him. "I have looked up the word, buddy, since you have decided to keep addressing such as and I have found that it is another definition as friend or allie. Do you consider me such a thing even if we met only a few of your Earth days ago?" He asked thoughtfully.

Epps grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah! I do, Mirage. You're an Autobot. I've been fighting alongside you guys for the past several months now. I consider all of you friends of mine. Even that stick in the ass, Sunstreaker." He remarked.

And for the first time, Mirage laughed, his entire form starting to shake a little from that remark. He actually seemed highly amused by what Epps just called Sunstreaker. There even came a light metallic giggle coming from the dashboard, startling Epps a little. But with an amused smile, Mirage's holoform lightly touched the radio, patting it. "Blaster does not stay behind without me. He stays with me at all times for numerous reasons." He explained.

As he explained, the radio unfolded a little and the little Autobot's head uncurled from Mirage's dashboard, looking at Epps, who was not only creeped out but he was a little amused. Blaster chirped a few times at the two of them, making the human soldier tilt his head curiously. "What'd he say?"

"Hmmm." Mirage said, smiling. "Blaster likes Earth. He finds it...entertaining. He has especially done his, as you humans say, homework and has looked up many varieties of information. He has even studied all of Earth's languages. From verbal languages to computer codes and even morse code. He is, after all, the Autobot Communications officer. He has even become very fond of the strange music called Bebopping. He likes Earth's musical officer designation; Blake Lewis."

Epps made a face but he laughed as he listened to Mirage talk about Blaster. "Blake Lewis, huh? Eh, he's not bad. I'm not a huge Bebopper fan but it does have some cool sounds to it." He paused to glance down at the small Autobot as he folded back up into Mirage's dashboard. "What's his story, though? Optimus said something about him being created by one of the Decepticons. Was that right?"

Blaster clicked almost irritable but he also sounded uneasy.

Mirage's face changed only slightly, darkening at the memory but he kept a smile on his holoform face as he dipped his head into a nod. "Blaster was created by Soundwave nearly three thousand Earth years ago. He was to be a pawn, a spy bot. But one thing that Soundwave did not count on was his spark. He was not like the other spy bots that was created for the Decepticon uses. Blaster was an innocent. He is an innocent. As some humans would say, he is sweet tempered and he does not like engaging with others. Not even with the Decepticons. That is why he is not a fighter but a Communications specialist. He leaves the fighting to me."

Epps slowly nodded as he eyed the radio sitting in the Stealth officer's dashboard before looking over at the holoform. "He sure put up a fight when that jet guy grabbed Mikaela and her uncle." He remarked.

Again, amusement flickered into Mirage's eyes before he shook his head and looked rather fondly at the radio. "That jet guy's name was Thundercracker. He's highly dangerous but he does not follow Soundwave's orders. He is a loyal follower of Starscream, seeing that they are practically air brothers. But nonetheless, Blaster sometimes surprises even myself when he jumps into the path of danger to protect a lesser comrade. He has become rather fond of Mikaela Banes, as well as Maggie Madsen. It is probably because they have complimented him on being cute." He said, now making a face and getting a laugh from Epps. And even a warbling laugh came from the radio, proving that Blaster thought it was just as funny.

After a moment, Epps leaned further back in the passenger seat, still eyeing the small Autobot's form, looking thoughtful. "Doesn't he ever talk though?" He asked, sounding interested.

Mirage glanced over at him before nodding. "He can speak. He just doesn't. I suppose you can say he's shy. It's due to the treatment he went through as a hardware pawn for Soundwave. The spy bots were not treated well while in the Decepticon ranks." He explained. "There are a number of spy bots that are treated horribly by their creators. Blaster was only fortunate that I took pity on him and offered him sanctuary. I made it very clear to all that I will protect him."

Slowly, Epps nodded as he studied the radio bot, watching as a part of blue optics blinked at them, probably listening carefully too. "You know? Seeing him reacting around the kids, Sam, Mikaela, Trent, and Elena...he kind of reminds me of a kid, himself." He admitted.

"Hmm." Mirage hummed with amusement before he nodded. "Comparing Blaster's age with your human years, he is a child. In your human years, he would only be nine Earth years."

Hearing that bit of knowledge, Epps was stunned. He stared at Mirage with alarm before looking at the innocent blinking orbs as they stared at him. He couldn't believe that. He couldn't believe that if Blaster was a human, he was only a child. "He's...he's a kid?" He asked in shock.

The only answer he got from Mirage was a nod as the holoform glanced over at him then back at the radio, slowly reaching out and gently running his fingers along the radio's face. The blue optics disappeared for a moment, as if Blaster had closed his optics but then reopened them, looking at Mirage rather fondly. "Blaster is only a Sparkling among our kind. A youngling. But he has the courage of a young warrior. That is why I get on the twins' case when they pull pranks on him. In truth, they mean no harm to him. They actually are as protective over him as I am. They just...they just like to tease him." He told Epps.

"Huh." Epps said, almost grinning. "Like a couple of older brothers just picking on their younger sibling."

Mirage only nodded before his eyes flashed and he tilted his head towards the house. He was frowning slightly which caught the human soldier's attention. But he held up a hand to him before Epps could even say anything. "The male human, Roger DeMarco has finally noticed us. He is complemating on what to do about our presence. I suggest we make a contact with him and his mate as Trent DeMarco has suggested." He told Epps, who was frowning. "It may serve us well to getting out and approaching the house with the talk of..." His eyes narrowed a little. "Football."

Epps snorted before grabbing the door handle and climbing out. He paused long enough to watch as Mirage's human form reached out towards the radio, clicking at Blaster in their native tongue before joining Epps to standing outside his natural body. "What'd you...eh, never mind." He remarked before turning towards the house. "You better let me do all of the talking. I know more about football than you do."

Mirage shot Epps a look as if he hadn't liked that. "I have looked it up on the Web..." He was saying.

"Yeah? Well, there's a big difference between looking it up on the Web and actually playing the sport, Mirage." Epps told him directly. "Just let me do the talking."

There was no answer from the Stealth officer as he just glanced at Epps before walking beside him towards the house. They approached the door very slowly, looking around and pretending to be interested in the scenery. It was actually because they were keeping an eye out for any Decepticons that may have been near by.

Before they could even get to the door, though, it opened and Roger DeMarco stepped out, giving them both a look of suspicion as he closed the door after himself. He hesitated in moving towards the two before finally making his decision to do so. "What can I do for you two gentlemen?" He asked, deciding to just jump to the point. He didn't like the looks of both soldiers one bit and was anxious of getting rid of them as soon as possible.

Epps put on a friendly smile before walking right up to Roger and holding out his hand towards him. "Hi there. Are you Roger DeMarco?" He asked, brightly. He shot Mirage a look when the Autobot started to say something and he already had an idea that he was going to try and remind him that it was Roger DeMarco that they were talking to.

Hesitating, Roger nodded as he carefully took Epps' hand and gave it a light shake. "Yes. I am. Who are you and what can I do for you?" He asked, sounding very uncertain.

Epps just shook his head as he immediately dropped his hand to beside him before motioning to himself. "My name is Robert Epps and this is..." He paused to glance at Mirage, trying to do some quick thinking. "This is my colleague, Dwayne Mirage." He ignored the sharp look that Mirage gave him as he smiled directly at Roger. "We're from the NYFL. The National Youth Football League. The League is who is pulling all of the setups for the football camps coming up. We'd like to talk to you about your son, Trent." He told him.

For a moment, Roger's eyes lit up brightly at what Epps was telling him before the look died away immediately and he folded his arms, putting on a tough guy look. "Trent's not home right now. I don't know where he is at the moment, but if you're here about him not signing up when he was suppose..." He was saying, his voice raising a little and sounding a little annoyed.

Quickly, Epps shook his head and held up a hand. "Oh, no, no, no." He interrupted with a smile. "It's not about that, Mr. DeMarco. In fact, Trent has already talked to us about the entire situation. He called us just yesterday about signing up for the football camp. He's already in the admissions. But that's what we wanted to talk to you about." He nodded when Roger DeMarco looked rather surprised but there was a pleased look on his face too. Almost triumph. Epps almost smirked, knowing what he was going to say next was just going to inflate DeMarco's pride a lot more. "Even before the admissions even came up, Mr. DeMarco, the NYFL has been watching Trent. He's an amazing football player. He could easily make the Pros."

Roger's face lit up even more, looking highly proud. "That's right, Mr. Epps! My son will be the star football player of whatever team he decides to join. I can promise the League that!" He said, proudly.

For a brief moment, Epps felt guilt about what he was going to say next. He remembered very well of how Trent said he didn't want to play anymore. And he was going to side with him on this case. "That's what we want to talk to you about, Mr. DeMarco." He nodded when Roger frowned slightly. "Trent is an amazing football player. But after talking to him a few times about what team he might want to join, I really don't think that football is his thing." He explained.

"What?!" Roger demanded, his face darkening again.

Mirage quickly held up a hand as he made a quick glance at Epps, sensing some tension coming from the human male standing in front of him. "Mr. DeMarco, football is an American sport and the most popular one, yes. And as my colleague has said, Trent could easily become a Professional Football player. But there is only one thing holding him back. He doesn't want to continue to play football anymore." He said, carefully.

Roger's face darkened even more as he looked away, gritting his teeth. "Of course he wants to become a Professional! That's all he's good at! I won't let him...!" He started yelling.

Epps' own face darkened as he felt somewhat annoyed. He now understood a little of what Trent meant about his dad being a little boastful. The guy was sure boasting about how his son was going to be a football player. Even if it was against his will. He remembered something like that happened to him when he was possibly the kid's age. "Mr. DeMarco, Trent's heart is not into the game anymore. He likes to play football, yeah. But he can't play in the pros if his heart's not into it." He remarked.

"You don't know anything about Trent, buddy! Of course his heart is into...!" Roger raised his voice even louder.

It was right at that moment, the door opened and Shirley DeMarco stepped out, looking uneasy and stern at the same time. It was obvious that she had been listening in. "Roger! Shut up!" She said firmly before looking at the two men before her with a smile. She ignored her husband's dark look he shot at her. "Hello. I'm Trent's mother, Shirley. You know where my son is?"

Epps and Mirage glanced at one another before nodding. "Yes. He's with a friend at the football camp. He's not entirely happy being there but..." The human soldier was saying.

"Not happy?! Why shouldn't he be happy?! He's playing foot...!" Roger growled out.

Shirley DeMarco's face darkened before she sharply nudged her husband in the side, shutting him. She even pointed a finger at him when he shot her a look, looking ready to tell her to knock it off. But the look she had on her face shut him up in a real hurry. "Roger, don't you dare. I meant what I said the other night. If you keep pushing Trent like you have, I will be spending some time at my parents and Trent will come with me." She said in a very dangerous tone.

A wide grin spread out on Epps' face and even Mirage smirked a little. They both had heard that Trent's mother hadn't had much of a backbone when it came to standing up against her husband. But this just proved otherwise. She had a thicker spine than Trent actually realized. So they had to admit to their selves, but they were impressed with her.

After sharing a glare with her husband, Shirley turned back to Epps and Mirage, smiling at them before motioning them to follow her while she started to drag her husband towards the house. "Please. Let's talk about Trent on the patio. Would you like something to drink? Lemonade, beer?" She asked, trying to be the hospitable host.

The only answers she got was a shake of the head from both soldiers of the field.

Once they were sitting at table on the nice patio in the backyard of the DeMarco's residence, Epps and Mirage put their full attention onto Shirley DeMarco, who was sitting next to Roger. It was very clear that her husband was not too happy but she was keeping him rather quiet by tightening her grip on his arm whenever he tried to open his mouth to say something rude to the two visitors. He gave her a look of warning but she ignored him.

"So, you don't think Trent should continue playing football?" Shirley asked, rapping her husband on the chest when he opened his mouth to say something.

Epps shrugged as he folded his hands together and rest them on the table he was sitting at with Mirage. He was going to be straightforward from here on out as much as he could. "It's not up to me to answer that, Mrs. DeMarco." He shot Roger a short look before shaking his head again and continuing before he could say anything. "It's up to Trent. Not anyone else. He's a great athlete according to his records. He has lead Tranquility High into the State Championships, has been voted VIP at least three times, and he's good at the game." He told them, remembering some of the details of Trent's files when he glanced at them before even coming to visit with the DeMarcos. "But I've talked to him. He doesn't have the heart to go Pros. He doesn't want it. And I don't see why anyone should force him to play if he doesn't want to anymore." He gave Roger a pointed look when he said that.

"Now, see here...!" Roger started to growl, but shut up when his wife jabbed him in the side again.

It was Mirage's turn to say something as he dipped his head down a little. "No." He interrupted surprising the married couple a little. "Now you see here, Mr. DeMarco. I haven't spoken much with Trent as much as Robert, here, has. But after watching him with some of his...friends, listening to him talk with them, he doesn't want to be a football player. And I've heard he's made it clear to you." His deep blue eyes narrowed slightly when Roger started to open his mouth to argue. "Are you really willing to break the bonds between yourself and your son?"

That shut Roger DeMarco up very fast, taking him by surprise. Even Shirley and Epps looked at the Autobot holoform with interest.

Mirage shook his head as he folded his hands together and rest them on the table directly in front of him. His head dipped a little lower as he looked directly into Roger's eyes. "I am not the most sociable person you will meet, Mr. DeMarco. I'm actually very difficult to get along with. But I've watched your son with his friends. He's happier not playing football. He wants to be a Veteniarian. An animal doctor. Why try and force him to do something he doesn't want to do?" He asked quietly.

Roger's face darkened again before he shook his head and banged a fist against the table seperating him from the two men. "He's a football player! I only want to see what's best for him!" He said rather loudly.

Epps shook his head as he looked back at Roger. "Deciding for Trent is not what's best for him, Roger. It's his future. Not yours." He shook his head again and held up a hand to shush Roger when he started to speak again. "Man, Mirage, here is right. If you keep pushing Trent like you've been doing, dude. You're going to lose your son's respect. I would know because the same thing happened with me." That got Roger's attention, perking him up a little. But he just shook his head. "When I was a kid, my dad was kind of like you. Except, he always wanted me to be lawyer. But I didn't want to be a lawyer. I wanted to be an American soldier. I wanted to defend this country from any danger or threat against it."

There was a pause between everyone as they looked at Epps, almost curiously. Mirage, however, was watching his associate and allie carefully but was almost smiling. He had a feeling that what was being said was actually true. "An American soldier, huh?" Roger asked, his interest even perked up more. "Let me guess, you didn't do it? Your father didn't want you to become one?"

"No." Epps answered. "He didn't care as much if I became a soldier. He was pretty skeptical at first. He didn't like the idea that I might be risking my life and putting myself in danger. But I did it anyway. I am an American Soldier. I'm a Sergeant in a Special Forces unit. Now and then, I help out with sporting events and stuff like that. Sports help take things off my mind after seeing some of the battles I have seen." He glanced over at Mirage, giving him an idea that it was somewhat true. Then he looked back at Roger. "My father didn't like it in the beginning but after saving a few lives, he became proud of what I decided to do. It's going to be the same for Trent." He told him.

Roger rolled his eyes as he looked away before letting out a long sigh. "He isn't saving lives like you, Mr. Epps. Or Sergeant Epps. They're just ani..." He was saying.

Mirage shook his head as he lift his head a little higher. "Animals have lives too, Mr. DeMarco. They are living beings just like you are. They breath, they eat, they even can spend their lives with others. What do you have against animals?" He asked.

"They're filthy. They're savage. They make a mess. Sometimes they're even killers." Roger said, his voice a little dark before getting jabbed by his wife, causing him to sigh and back down again.

Epps shook his head, making a face. He didn't like the sound of that. "Animals are killers. They're just using their instincts, man. It's their nature. Have you not ever watched Animal Planet, man? Call me weird or something, but even watching animals can be rather peaceful. You ever watch a Zebra running across the terrain of Africa? Or see a whale swimming or hear them on the coasts? Animals are actually rather beautiful creatures. Trent knows that. They're in his heart if you like it or not. We also heard something about a dog." That was all he needed to say before getting a reaction.

Roger DeMarco made a disgusted sound and rolling his eyes as he ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Oh, god. He told you about the dog, didn't he?" He shook his head before pressing his hands together and leaning against the table towards Epps and Mirage. "Look, the dog that I shot and killed, I was doing it a favor. I don't know what Trent told you but that thing was suffering bad. He was taking good care of it, but it did not help that much that I had actually called a Vet while Trent was at school to come look at the dog. The damn thing had a punctured lung. It was a miracle that thing was even still alive. And it had rabies. The disease didn't kick in yet, messing with the dog's head and turning him rabid but by the end of the day, it would have. I was not about to let my son get bit by that dog. It would have hurt him a lot more than it hurt him when I killed it. I was hoping that the Animal Patrol would have showed up before he got home from school and picked it up."

Shirley nodded as she reached over and began playing with the back of her husband's hair, looking rather sad. "Roger's telling the truth. I saw the papers that the Vet filled out on the dog. I would have told Trent, myself. But Roger wanted to be the one to tell him. He wanted to tell him about what was wrong with the dog but Trent was just so angry that he wouldn't listen. I can't say I blame him in the way Roger was doing it. And my husband would have made him listened if he hadn't went and wrecked the truck that we bought for him. We know it wasn't an accident but we also know it was just an angry retaliation." She told the two men.

"I shouldn't have done it but I wanted to make it up to Trent. So I bought him a Porsch. I tried to get him another truck but he didn't want it. He just wanted this strange ass blue Porsch." Roger remarked before he got a weird look on his face. "The funny thing is, the guy we bought it from had no idea where it came from. He was trying to locate the factory where it came from, trying to find its roots but there's no papers on it. It's like it just dropped out of the sky, right into our laps." He told Epps and Mirage.

A sly smile curled on both of the soldiers' faces as they glanced at one another, probably thinking the same thing. "Mr. DeMarco," Epps said, still grinning slyly as he turned his dark eyes back onto Roger. "Who knows? Maybe it did. But either way, we are talking about Trent's future. You keep pushing him towards a future he doesn't want, you're going to lose his respect. You have to let him decide. It's his future he has to choose. You might want him to play football but he doesn't."

There was a long silence between all four as they stared at one another before looking away and around at the scenery all around them. Roger DeMarco, especially, kept looking around away from Epps and Mirage. But after a while of consideration, he slowly nodded. "You may be right." He sighed in defeat. "I have pushed him into football too much that he's grown tired of it. So his disinterest in football is my fault. But you have a point. It is Trent's future. I should probably let him do whatever he wants." He made a face. "And I guess I can buy him a dog to try and make up for the one I had put down too. Ugh. There's going to be hair everywhere and that thing better stay away from my shoes." He remarked.

Epps and Shirley both laughed while Mirage frowned slightly and tried to secretly look up what he was talking about before a wide smile curled onto his face. "You know. I think Trent would really like that, Mr. DeMarco." He finally remarked before pushing himself to standing up. "And I think we best tell you now that Trent thought you both needed a vacation away from Tranquility for a while." He nodded when Roger and Shirley frowned, looking confused. He only shrugged as he glanced at Epps as he stood up. "Trent wanted to tell you about it himself but due to being at camp, he's asked us to tell you. But he's signed you up for a Caribbean cruise." He announced to them.

Shirley gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth while Roger blinked several times in astonishment. "He did what?" He asked.

Epps just smiled as he pushed in the chair he had been sitting in a moment ago. "It's not going to cost you anything, Mr and Mrs. DeMarco. He's paid for it already and we have the two tickets at the office. All we need from you is an answer. He really thought you two needed some time to relax and enjoy yourselves together. Get your mind off of things." He told them.

There was a pause as the married couple looked at one another, almost too astonished. They didn't say anything for a moment, looking rather hesitant about the entire idea. In fact, they looked like they were about to refuse for a moment. But then after a moment, Roger let out a huff of defeat and smiled at Epps and Mirage. "Some football guys you are." He remarked, making them tense up. "You're travel agents, aren't you? Trent's bought us some tickets to a cruise through you and asked you to pose as football pros to get our attention. Well, guess what?" He hardened his voice and his brow furrowed unpleasantly. He stayed that way for a moment, trying to make the two men grow tense, which didn't work. So he smiled and shook his head as he and Shirley stood up and offered his hand. "We're in. We could use a vacation. So the answer is yes."

Epps grinned as he took Roger's hand and shook it before backing away a little. "You're a lucky guy to have a kid like Trent, Mr. DeMarco. We're not travel agents but he did ask us to give you this chance. I hope you will enjoy yourselves on your cruise." He told them.

And about ten minutes later, after getting some information from Roger and Shirley DeMarco, Epps and Mirage were walking back to the Autobot's real body, knowing that the parents were watching them. But even as they walked, Mirage spared Epps a dry look as they approached his real body. "I am never doing that again. Humans are so impossible." He remarked.

Epps only laughed as he opened the passenger door and climbed into the car.


	17. A Prime Story

After speaking with Hound, talking to Maggie and Glenn and even having a look around, Reno was still a little confused about the entire situation with the Autobots. He got the idea concept that they were on Earth to protect it from the Decepticons. He got the idea that they needed a new home because their old one was diminishing. And he accepted them because they seemed to care so much for an entire race that was not their own and was willing to put their lives in great danger to protect them.

It still did not help him understand everything about them. He knew that Hound or even the Autobot medic, Ratchet could probably answer his questions about the Autobots, Decepticons or even Cybertron in general.

But he wanted to hear it from the one who might know the most about it.

So Reno tracked down Optimus, though it wasn't hard to find him at all. After all, how could he miss a 28 foot giant alien robot? He found Optimus in a giant room which seem to serve as a Briefing Room. He was speaking to Secretary Keller and the Agent Simmons about something. Will Lennox was with them, listening in on whatever was being said and not looking too thrilled. Hound was also there, looking somewhat troubled. And it seemed that they were talking about an ally of theirs, someone called Jetfire. It seemed that they were having a very hard time locating the Autobot.

"Why do you think it's taking so long to finding your ally, Optimus Prime? How sure are you that he hasn't been caught by the Decepticons?" Keller asked, sounding rather concerned.

Optimus looked away thoughtfully but shook his head as he folded his arms across his semi cab like chest. He didn't look too happy with the entire situation but he was taking it a lot better than he should have. "Jetfire is a difficult Cybertronian to read, Secretary Keller. Even I have my moments where I cannot understand him. But he is a known legend on Cybertron. If the Decepticons located him before we did, we would definitely know about it. Jetfire is a very skilled warrior. Even I would have some difficulty fighting against him. No Decepticon we know could ever defeat Jetfire in battle. They know better not to engage with him alone." He explained in his proud deep voice.

Hound nodded as he shifted his weight. "Prime is right. One lone Decepticon, or even five Decepticons would never fight Jetfire alone. They're stupid but they're not insane. He's too good and if the Decepticons tried to gain up on him, we'd know about it. We would have sensed it or seen something about it in the media. That's why I'm betting my next cube of Energon that the black and red Cybertronian fighting Cyclonus in China was Jetfire." He then pressed a button on the side of his head, lighting up a hologram of the news report. It was the picture taken of the black and red Cybertronian. "It was really difficult clearing up the image but I managed to do it. That is Jetfire."

The image was of the black and red Cybertronian and it was clearly an older Cybertronian. He was massive in size, almost the size of Optimus if not just a little bit shorter. He was very bulky, due to the large black wings on his back. He was mostly black and red with bits of silver shining in the sun.

But it was very clear, the insignia on his wings.

The humans who could see it froze with alarm, stepping back as they eyed the insignia. Even Lennox looked rather uneasy as he recognized it. Simmons, of course, was the first to react. He jabbed a finger towards the Decepticon insignia, looking wide eyed from the holo picture and to Optimus Prime. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa!" He repeated rather annoyingly while shaking his head. "Wait a minute! What is that?!" He jabbed his finger again, still shaking his head. "That ain't an Autobot insignia! That isn't a square shaped robot head! That's a triple pointed shaped robot head! That's a Decepticon!" He nearly yelled.

Optimus cleared his throat but shook his head as he glanced at the image of the Cybertronian. He understood the humans' unease very well and knew he probably should have explained sooner. However, he paused when he caught sight of Reno staring up at them. He offered a nod of the head before reaching out and offering his hand to him, catching everyone's attention.

"Well, I see I'm missing quite the party. What's that?" Reno asked as he carefully stepped onto Optimus' hand and allowed the Autobot Leader to lift him up onto the raised platform where the others were standing so they could be at least a little eye leveled with Optimus.

"That is Jetfire. An ally to the Autobots. He's not a Decepticon. Well...not anymore." Hound explained as he looked directly at Simmons who looked very hesitant. "He ain't a threat to us. He might carry the Decepticon symbol but he's as loyal to them as Angie Jolie is to Brad Pitt or Peter Pettigrew is to his friends."

That remark made quite a few of the humans stare at him blankly.

"What? I read that entire story of Harry Potter and liked it." Hound said, frowning at them. Everyone rolled their eyes or optics before moving on.

Optimus carefully set Reno down right next to Lennox, shaking his head before dropping his long arm down to his side. "You do not need to fear Jetfire. He was Decepticon and possibly still claims to be one. But he serves under my command, claiming that he would rather not fight me. He has sworn allegiance to the Autobots as long as I am the Prime." He told them.

Simmons, however, was shaking his head. "That isn't helping, Optimus Prime. How in the world do you know he won't stab you in the back like that Spitfire did? Whom I still don't see why you should trust in the first place if she was buddy-buddies with someone like Starscream." He remarked.

"Jetfire has sworn the oath of Primus, Agent Simmons." Hound remarked, sounding somewhat annoyed that he was even question Optimus Prime. "That is a very strict oath to make. Even Decepticons won't break it."

Reno somewhat understood what he was talking about but hearing about this Jetfire being a Decepticon had him siding with Simmons a little. He shook his head as he rest his hands onto his waist, looking right up at Optimus. "Simmons has a point, Optimus Prime. How do you know that this...Jetfire won't pull a fast one on you? What if he's only going to try and kill you when he has the chance? I mean, you're the Prime. What if he's just biding his time before he can stab you in the back?" He asked carefully.

Optimus looked rather thoughtful for a moment before he lowered his arms and shook his head. "Jetfire has had his chances to offlining me from behind, my friends. He has had his chances to doing it. When I even first met him, he had the chance to killing me before I could become the next Prime. He even had the chance to killing the Prime before me. But he didn't. Instead, he spoke the Oath of Primus, which is a highly strict oath to make. It is one that ties all Cybertronians together. Autobot or Decepticon. No one dares to break that oath for if they do, the consequences can be disastrous. Only one has ever broken that oath and the end that he met was terrible. To break the Oath of Primus, it will destroy your processor and your spark. I have only witnessed it once. And never again." He paused shaking his head again. "Jetfire may be a Decepticon on the outside, my friends, but he is a loyal soldier and friend under my command. He has saved my life and the lives of many others countless times. He has had his opportunities to destroy me but has not taken them."

There was a pause throughout everyone as they listened to his words carefully before Keller slowly nodded. He was going to accept that for now and hope he wouldn't regret it later. "I hope your right, Prime. Because I don't want your words to come back and bite you if he decides to betray you now." He told the Autobot Leader.

"Don't worry. They won't. I trust Jetfire with my life." Optimus told him.

Keller only nodded before he turned and walked off to concentrate on something else. He silently gave Simmons his orders to continue the search for the...Decepticon or Autobot, Jetfire before taking off.

Reno, however, shared a glance with Lennox before looking back up at Optimus. He felt like he trusted Optimus' words but he was still very curious about it. "Optimus," He said, catching the Autobot Leader's attention. "There's something I have got to ask you. Hound has told me some of the stories about your home planet and has explained a few things to me. But what I don't get is you. You and this Jetfire guy. I really don't understand your story. Hound said something about you being a big rival to the former Prime and that when you did become the Prime, you hesitated. I'm just a little curious about why." He told him.

There was a light look in Optimus' optics as he glanced over at Hound before looking back at Reno. He understood what he meant and realized that none of his human allies knew about it. But starting with Reno and Lennox, he knew the word would spread. "Very well. I think I should explain a little about how we met Jetfire in the first place. It might help you relax about his case and I think I will explain to you how I become the Prime."

At this moment, the twins came in with Maggie and Glenn, whom he and the twins tag teamed against his Aussie friend and pulled her away from the computers to actually get something to eat. Maggie was pouting a little but hearing Optimus' words as she walked beside her large black friend and the twins, she looked very interested.

"Before I was Prime," Optimus began, standing tall and proud looking. "There was Sentinel Prime. He was a good leader but not the best. He was loud, too proud of himself, and even very sure that whatever plan he came up with would win him a victory. He was competitive and he saw myself as his rival because most of the younger Autobots and even some of the older ones respected my intelligence and knowledge of the warfare. But it was not just my warfare knowledge or plans of strategy that had many looking up to myself. It was the fact that I listened to my spark and instincts more than Sentinel Prime did. And using my spark was what saved many lives. But I was unable to save Sentinel's.

TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

Word had came from the Spy Changers of the Decepticon's new hidden base. There were rumors stating that the Decepticons were close to the state of Kaon and there were rumors saying that they were hidden Protihex. And because they were coming from the Spy Changers, Sentinel Prime decided to act quickly. He decided that Protihex was where the Decepticons' new base was though. 

Nearly six hours after the rumors came in, the boisterous Prime called all of his high ranked soldiers to his side and began plotting an ambush. 

"There is a passage that leads to Protihex, one that is so deep within the crevices. We shall take this passage to getting to the Cons and destroying them. We will enter the crevice just as dusk is falling and we will travel towards the Decepticons' Base and destroy our enemies once and for all." Sentinel Prime announced as he was showing them a holographic map being emitted from the young Hologram Programmer, Hound. The hologram that the Autobots were staring at were full of rocky terrains and passages that snaked around each other and to the center of the mountain, where it was believed that the Decepticons were hiding. It was deep within the harsh skin of Cybertron but it seemed like a place that the vile Cybertronians would hide. "If find the Decepticon Base, we will set explosives all around them and make that mountain come crumbling upon them, burying and crushing them for all eternity." The Prime finished. 

A few Autobots nodded as they glanced at one another, murmuring their approval of the plan. They agreed with Sentinel's idea of crushing their enemies. It would mean an end to the war if all of the Decepticons were there at the base, rationing up for their Energon. If they could destroy every last of the Decepticons, the war would end and they could live in peace. 

But there was just one of the high ranked Autobots that didn't like the sound of this plan at all. He didn't agree with such violence and brutality. He wanted the war to end as much as the others but he didn't think that they were going the right way of doing it. It just felt wrong to him. 

His name was Optimus Minor. 

Optimus Minor was a well respected Autobot among the ranks and highly looked up to by the younger ones. He was mostly a scientist among them, studying the bridges of Time and Space, trying to develop ways of quick transport. He was doing very well as it was. To create bridges of Time and Space with their Cybertronian technology, it was helping other Autobot stations with transporting provisions to one place to the other. There was only one problem though; the Decepticons could do it too. 

It was only recently did Optimus Minor start regretting using the Bridges for the war. Sentinel constantly ordered him to open up the Bridges to get to Decepticon whereabouts and use them for acts of war. But Optimus knew that doing such a thing was not only very difficult, almost impossible, it was dangerous. The Time and Space Bridges were very unstable as it was. To use them constant like Sentinel wanted to, it could destroy any Autobot or Cybertronian that kept transporting to one spot to the other. And it was difficult to pinpoint an exact location anyway. You would never know where an Autobot would end up. Optimus was trying to fix that, but with the war getting worst, he just didn't find the time. And Sentinel Prime was constantly asking him to open up the Bridges. 

As for Sentinel's plan, Optimus Minor didn't like it. The entire idea of the Decepticons being deep within the rocky mountains of Cybertron was absurd too. True, it was a place that the Decepticons might be hiding. But it was also the perfect place for an ambush. The Decepticons could easily being luring the Autobots into a trap. And that's what Optimus Minor felt. He felt like it was a trap. And it was trusting his instincts, his Spark that kept him alive on the battlefield. 

"I don't like it." He suddenly said, cutting everyone's excitement off. Almost all glowing blue optics turned with alarm to look at him and only one pair narrowed. "It does not feel right, Sentinel. This plan is too dangerous and the rumors itself, I don't feel right about it. I believe we should send in one of our Stealth Officers to investigate. If it is where the Decepticons' new base is, then we should act. But not without sure, it would be reckless." 

A few of the other Autobots began to murmur to one another and fair few began to nod in agreement. That was not what Sentinel wanted to see or hear. His optics narrowed at Optimus before he shook his head. "Optimus Minor, the plan is good! You are just been overly cautious." He ground out. 

Optimus Minor blinked only once, though didn't look surprised that Sentinel was getting a little testy. "It's not a terrible plan, Sentinel. I didn't say that it was. It is a good plan. But we need to be sure that it's not a trap. All I am saying is we should stand by until a Spy Changer checks it out. Then act." He told his rival. He was getting the feeling that Sentinel didn't like that either. 

"Optimus Minor is right. It would be reckless just to send troops in without making sure." Hound murmured thoughtfully. 

"No, he's not!" Sentinel Prime snapped at the younger Autobot, who flinched heavily and quickly lowered his head. "Hound! Your specialty lies in Holograms! Something that is only good for strategy planning and is worthless on the field! You are still new at this war and so you don't know what you're talking about! So close that clap trap and start being useful for once! My plan is perfect! I know it is! I can feel we are getting closer to ending this war in our favor!" He looked sharply at the grave looking Optimus Minor, shaking his head. "Optimus Minor, this is our chance to end it! The source of the Decepticons' base is Soundwave, himself! One of our best Intelligence Gatherers! If we don't act now, we could lose our chance of destroying the Decepticons once and for all." He said, his tone very dry. 

Optimus Minor shook his head as straightened up higher. He surely did not approve Sentinel snapping at the young Autobot, as did a few others. He knew that Hound was new to the war and was not as experienced as they were. He was still trying to get over his first few kills he had made in the last battle, which was nearly months ago. But he was trying his best. And being snapped at by the Prime, himself, that wasn't helping his already battered self confidence. 

"Sentinel, what if you're wrong? What if it is a trap?" Optimus asked gravely. 

The Prime shook his head as he straightened much taller, nearly puffing out his chest. "I'm grateful for your concern, my rival and friend. But it's not a trap. And as long as I am Prime, I will take the opportunities I see to ending this war. This is an opportunity now! And I will see to it!" He then dipped his head down lower, looking sternly at his rival. "We will be rolling out in two nano hours. Get everyone ready. This will be our last fight if we can help it." He ordered. 

Everyone murmured and nodded as they turned and began leaving. But the last ones to leave were Sentinel Prime, Optimus Minor and even Hound as he put away his holographic map. He, however, paused to see that the Prime and Optimus Minor were staring one another down. That was very unsettling for anyone to watch when they had their tense moments. 

"Optimus, don't get in my way. Just work on the bridges like you're suppose to." Sentinel Prime said his tone stern before he turned and walked out. 

For a very long moment, Optimus stood there with Hound, looking after his rival rather thoughtfully. He didn't like it. He just didn't like this entire situation. He felt like something was wrong. It was just so wrong!

"I'm sorry." Hound suddenly spoke catching Optimus' attention. The young Autobot was looking down at the ground almost ashamed though. He felt as if it was his fault a little for causing a bigger drift between the Prime and the scientist, though everyone knew about it. "I didn't mean to upset Sentinel Prime and making him take it out on you." He grimaced before quickly gathering up some of his workings and starting towards the door. 

A hand on his shoulder stopped him from leaving and he looked up at the much taller Autobot, who was looking at him softly. "You're still young, Hound, and new to this war. But your spark and mind was in a good place. You will learn that Sentinel is hard headed but don't let his harsh words get to you." Optimus Minor explained before patting the younger Autobot on the shoulder. He then started towards the door, leaving a rather surprised Hound just standing there. He stopped in the doorway to turn around and smile at him. "Oh. By the way, you are not useless and holograms are not worthless on the battlefield. I actually believe they would come in handy against a few Cons. I look forward to seeing what your holograms can do in a fight." He added then left. 

Thoughts of the attack were still troubling Optimus Minor as he walked through the corridors of the Autobot base. He still didn't like it at all. He felt like something was missing from the information they had received. Something just wasn't right. What was it? 

"Oh! Hello, Optimus Minor. I heard everyone was preparing to move out for a mission. Aren't you going?" 

Somewhat taken by surprise, Optimus Minor blinked before looking up to see a few femmes standing near by. They had been in the middle of turning onto the corridor that he had been on. And the one who spoke was the one who had his attention immediately. She was very tall for a femme but a good deal shorter than the Time and Space builder. Her coloring was silver and bright pink with a good deal of black. She stood up with her head high, almost noble like or someone of great importance. She was well known throughout all of the Autobots. She was one of very few of the true borns; Cybertronians who were actually born and not created from the All Spark. She was only one of the very few. 

And her name was Elita One. 

"Elita One." Optimus Minor said in surprise as he straightened before bowing his head in respect to her. He knew, like everyone else, to respect a noble born like Elita One. As it was, ever since he had even first met her, he could never find himself to look away. "It's always a pleasure to see you." 

Elita One smiled at him, while the other femmes giggled with one another, clicking and whistling as quietly at they could. "And you, Optimus Minor. I always look forward to talking to you." The noble femme said softly to him before lifting her head again. "I do recall asking you a question though. Are you not going with Sentinel Prime and his troops to fight the Decepticons? I would think that one of the finest warriors would go fight the good fight." She said, almost teasingly. 

Optimus cleared his throat as he glanced away, almost embarrassed but grave at the same. He only shook his head as he looked back into Elita One's nearly white blue eyes. "No. I have been ordered to stay behind and continue my work." He had to stop himself when he saw the look of amusement on Elita's face suddenly died away. He knew instantly that she had not wanted to hear that. 

"Sentinel ordered you to stay behind?" Elita asked, her tone a little serious before she glanced at the now uneasy looking femmes she had been with. "I'll meet with you later. I think I should have a talk with the Prime." And with that said, she turned swiftly and started to walk away, leaving the femmes to wince and look at each other. 

For a brief moment, Optimus stood there, surprised before he shook his head and hurried after her. He knew what she was up to. And he couldn't possibly let her. "Elita One, you don't need to do that..." He was saying. 

Elita didn't look at him as she swiftly walked through the corridors with him right behind her. She surely looked like a femme full of wrath and Autobots were halting dead short to let her pass by them. They didn't look like they wanted to interfere with her at all. "Optimus Minor, I cannot just stand here and let Sentinel order you to stay behind! You are one of the finest Autobots this army has, if not the finest, and he's telling you to stay back?!" She spoke, her tone very hard. 

Quickly, Optimus Minor reached out and caught her arm, lightly pulling her to a stop before quickly retracting his hand when she turned sharply to look up into his eyes. He couldn't believe he had even touched her for that matter. It wasn't a rule to do that but there were a lot of Autobots who were a little intimidated by Elita's stature in the army. Many knew she was a warrioress on the battle field but many didn't want her fighting. She seemed to be too important to let her risk her life against a vile Decepticon. She was nearly a Princess of the Cybertronian world. And as it was, there were rumors stating that Megatron wanted Elita One captured and brought to him so that he could court her, himself. Everyone knew his intentions for her was to become a mate for himself. 

It was a shame on his behalf, or maybe not, that Elita One swore that if she ever met Megatron in battle, she would rip out his Spark, herself. She was as fierce as any Autobot, and quite the warrioress. She was wicked fast on her feet and her wheels when she transformed into a large Cybertronian car. And she was very deadly with her Cybertronian Dagger she used in a fight. Not many dared to challenge her because of her noble standing but even so, no one dared to challenge her because she could be pretty vicious in hand to hand. 

"I'm sorry." Optimus Minor immediately said as he looked away embarrassed and ashamed of himself. He half expected Elita One to slap him upside for even touching her. 

For a brief moment, it seemed like she was glaring at him. But then Elita's optics softened and she almost smiled as she looked up at Optimus. "Don't be." Her words startled Optimus to look at her again, and was surprised to see that she was nearly smiling. She paused for a moment before folding her arms and dipping her head to the side, still staring up at the much taller Autobot. "Optimus, Sentinel should not order you to stay back. You should be out there fighting with the Decepticons just like he is being a fragging, jealous imbecile for trying to hold you back." She said, before nearly laughing at the stunned look on the scientist's face. "What? You don't think a Cybertronian Princess can't swear just like everyone else? Don't think so shy of me, Optimus Minor. I will say what I want and do what I want. And talk to who ever I want." 

A flicker of amusement fell across Optimus' face as he looked into her eyes before dropping them again, almost shyly. "You never cease to surprise me, Elita One. But even so," His face grew serious again. "Sentinel is the Prime. I am but a lowly Time and Space Scientist and builder. What right do I have...?" He was saying. 

Elita grew a little serious again, but kept a forced smile on her face. "Optimus, you are a genius not lowly. If it wasn't for you, the Time and Space Gateways would not be as stable as they are. And you have the right to speak your processor as any one does. Sentinel may be the Prime and he has done some good leading the Autobots. But he is still a fool for not ordering you to stand beside him to fight the Decepticons." She shook her head, holding up a hand when Optimus started to open his mouth to say something. "Now, I may not be the Prime but I am the daughter of a former one. And I am the Leader of the Valkyries. I hold no rank over you, Optimus Minor, but I will order, no. I will request that you join the other Autobots on the battle field to attack the so called Decepticon base. I don't like the idea of this plan, anyway. To move into the rocky mountains without even being sure that the Decepticons are there...what?" She asked, when she saw an almost astonished look on Optimus Minor's face 

In truth, Optimus Minor was very surprised that she was even thinking the very same thing he had when he heard about the rumors or the plan. But to hear someone else say it, and not just anyone, Elita One say it, it right at that moment that he realized he might have just fallen in love with her. 

"I..." Optimus actually stammered, before kicking on some cooling fans to be rid of his embarrassment. "I said the same thing to Sentinel Prime." 

Somewhat surprised, Elita drew back a little, staring at him in astonishment before her optics softened. She looked as if she understood something else though. But then she quickly shook herself out of whatever thoughts were going through her processor before looking away alarmed. "You think it's a trap?!" She asked alarmed. 

Optimus Minor grimaced before shaking his head. "Yes, but Sentinel Prime believes it's not. And he is Prime..." He was saying. 

"He is a fool!" Elita One said suddenly and sharply surprising Optimus. She looked almost sharply up at him, yet there were still some alarm in her optics. "Optimus, if you think it's a trap, it must be! I can't ever recall a time that one of your feelings hasn't ever been true. And Sentinel is already leaving the base! He's ordered anyone that is ready to just go with him immediately!" She said quickly. 

The Scientist's optics widened to hear that before he looked sharply away from her. He couldn't believe that Sentinel was being so reckless. He had said that they were to leave within two nano hours. They were leaving too fast and unprepared. "What?! But..." He quickly looked back at Elita, pausing as he thought hard about it. He had to think very carefully about the entire situation. The plans, the rumors, the attacks. It was going way too fast. He had to recall where the attack was take place again. Who had told them about the Decepticon Base again? 

"Soundwave." The Scientist murmured before looking quickly at Elita One, who was watching him carefully. Gently, he took her arm and pulled him to follow. The two of them hurried through the halls of the Autobot Base. He had to find Soundwave and hear the story from him again. He had to be sure that he wasn't just being too cautious. Quickly, he opened up the link for Soundwave's. 

"Optimus Minor to Soundwave, come in." 

For a very long moment, there was nothing. There was no answer. There was only the crackling sound of the radio waves passing through the air between Optimus Minor and where ever they were going to. 

"Optimus Minor to Soundwave. Come in, Soundwave! Do you copy?"

Still no answer. 

"Optimus Minor to...Mirage! Mirage, do you copy?" 

There was a pause between Optimus Minor and whoever he was calling for before the radio link crackled to life. 

"Mirage to Optimus Minor. What can I do for you, sir?" The answer came. 

Optimus Minor vented a huge sigh as he glanced over his shoulder at Elita One, who was still watching him carefully. He just hoped he knew what he was doing. "Mirage, do you know where I can find Soundwave?" He asked over the link. 

"No, sir. I don't. I'm with Sentinel Prime's regiment, rolling out to the Decepticon Base in the Rocky Mountains. I haven't seen Soundwave since this morning, when he even made his reports. He's not even with us, though it surprises me. I would have thought he would come with our regiment to lead us to the Decepticon Base." Mirage explained though there were some surprise in his tone. "Is there something wrong, sir?" 

Optimus Minor halted, almost causing Elita One to run into him but he caught her carefully in time. He just looked dumbfounded at the wall. He would have the very same thing as Mirage had. Soundwave had been the one to report the Decepticon Base. It would only be natural that the Autobot who made the report go and help with the ambush. "Mirage, keep an optic out. Optimus Minor out." He quickly cut the link with Mirage and opened a new one. "Optimus Minor to Teletraan. Locate Soundwave for me."

The Autobots that were in Sentinel Prime's regiment were excited and frightened at the same time. They were finally going to destroy the Decepticons for the last time, or many thought. They truly that this was the last stand against them. They would follow their Prime to the ends of the World to make this war end if they had. 

However, after speaking with Optimus Minor, the Stealth Officer, Mirage was very suspicious. He had not liked the way that the Scientist had asked him to keep an optic out. It sounded like he was expecting them to be attacked. Some kind of trap. And he had not missed the notion that Optimus Minor believed it to be one. Mirage didn't like it. Not one bit. He remembered exactly when Optimus Minor got his feelings like this, they were usually true. He knew why, like most of the other Autobots, that Sentinel Prime was being hard headed. Everyone knew that he was extremely jealous of Optimus Minor because of his strong Spark and his way of the battle. Every one of the Autobots respected the Scientist because he was a brilliant warrior. He was fast, powerful and no one wanted to be at the end of his blades. And secretly, everyone knew that it would be a matter of time when he became the next Prime. There were a lot of Autobots who were counting on it. 

True, the Autobots respected Sentinel because he did what he could to protect his comrades. But his vanity and pompous attitude could be so tiresome. He was a great warrior, just not as good as Optimus Minor. And that's what pissed Sentinel off. Everyone knew it. 

And that's why Sentinel Prime sped up the ambush on the Decepticons. He wanted to prove that he had been right and Optimus Minor had been wrong. He didn't want some Time and Space Bridge Building Scientist to be right and telling him, The Prime, what to do. It was an outrage to Sentinel. He didn't realize of the dangers that he might be putting his mechs in. 

"Mirage? Ya okay, mech?" 

Mirage tore himself out of his thoughts before looking at a slightly shorter mech beside him, one he recalled being Jazz. He remembered that Jazz was a brilliant warrior on the field and it was an honor to fight along side him. He specialized in magnetic weapons, which was pretty good to have on the battle field. He was very boisterous though and could be a smartaft. But his Spark was in a good place. "Jazz, yes. I am fine. But..." He looked away frowning deeply. "Jazz, send word, but quietly to the others. Keep a careful optic out. There's word that it might be a trap ahead waiting for us." 

Jazz blinked a few times in surprise before he slowly nodded. "Yeah. I heard about that from Hound. Optimus Minor believes it's a trap, righ'?" He asked in a quiet tone. 

Mirage nodded to him before looking ahead towards the massive Prime ahead. "I don't like this, myself, Jazz. It feels wrong. I think Optimus Minor may be right. But we can't go against the Prime on it. Let's just be careful." He said very quietly. Jazz only nodded. 

Far ahead, hiding within the rocky canyons, red glares stared off into the distance while dark smiles plastered their faces. The plan was succeeding as they could see. They could see the Autobot army coming, following the false information that there was a Decepticon Base in Protihex. There wasn't, of course. The information had been sent to the Autobots, knowing that they would jump at the chance of ending this war. That was why they took this opportunity to lure them into the trap that their leader and the Legend came up with. 

A chuckle escaped from the leading Decepticon as he eyed the large group of Autobots now starting to separate as they began entering the canyons, taking to the shadows. It was a good move, to be honest. Try and hide from view while Decepticon Scouts tried to guard the entrance of the Decepticon base from their enemies. It was just a shame that they knew that they were coming. 

The Decepticon leading the ambush against the Autobots was the Legendary Seeker, Jetfire, however. 

Jetfire had came up with this plan with Lord Megatron and the help of their spies who had infiltrated the Autobots long ago. The plan had not been his own, though. It had belonged to their spy, Soundwave, who was genius but an idiot in the Seeker's opinion. Jetfire thought the plan was just too simple to figure out. If anyone actually took the time to think about it, they would have realized it was a trap. But according to many of the Decepticons, his aerial brother, Starscream, for one, the Autobot's Prime was always eager to jump when he saw the opportunity. He had heard that Sentinel Prime was very good in battle and that was the only reason he agreed to this ridiculous plan. 

As it was agreed upon by Megatron, Jetfire would engage in battle with Sentinel Prime and take him out. He would be the one to offline the Autobot's Prime. 

Of course, there was another that Jetfire had been interested in fighting. He had heard about the lower ranked Autobot called Optimus Minor. He had never seen him but the Minor did have his attention. He had heard from Starscream and his Seeker brothers, Thundercracker and Skywarp of how Optimus Minor annoyed the Decepticons because he always beat them down. He was an Elite Warrior among the Autobots and it also annoyed Megatron that he would not join the Decepticons. Jetfire only chuckled and stated that if Optimus Minor was with the regiment that was coming to destroy them, he would force the Minor to change his mind and join them. 

"Jetfire, the explosives are ready for your command." A Decepticon said, one Jetfire didn't even care to knowing what his Designation was. "Shall we blow these Auto-scums off the face of Cybertron?" 

Jetfire shot the Decepticon a glare before looking back at the approaching Autobots, staring at them for a long time. He didn't speak for that long time and that's what made the other Decepticons uneasy. But they knew better than to interrupt Jetfire when he was thinking about the first sign of attack. 

After watching the Autobots move closer to their position, Jetfire threw up a clawed hand and then motioned towards the enemy. "Set off the first two explosives. Then attack immediately. Leave the Prime to me. If I see anyone taking him, I'll turn you into scrap metal!" He growled at the other Decepticons before he began to quickly shift and transform, ready to lead the attack. 

Hiding in the shadows as they moved through the canyons, many of the Autobots felt very uneasy. They couldn't be sure what it was, but something was pulling at their Sparks, giving them a warning. Even Sentinel Prime had felt it as he slowed his pace at the front and let his optics dance back and forth as if waiting for anything. He was starting to regret this. Something was not right. His Spark was telling him that but his processor was saying otherwise. He was starting to wonder if Optimus Minor had been right. Maybe this entire thing was a trap. It's just a shame that his ego wouldn't let him agree on it on time. 

Because right at that moment, as Sentinel Prime turned to give orders to most of the Autobots to fall back, there was an explosion. 

Many of the Autobots were thrown every where and many began to yell their surprise, letting their cries echo throughout the entire canyon. The explosions had come from both sides of the canyons, far back near the middle of the Autobot army. Rocky walls turned into pelting bullets from the explosion and Autobot parts went flying while the blast offlined many as it was. 

That was when the Decepticons began their attacks. 

Vile battle cries roared throughout the entire canyon as Decepticons fell from crevices and caverns in the canyons and began attacking the startled Autobots. Even Sentinel Prime was startled to scampering back a little before his face darkened and reached behind his back and yanked out his long electro lance. Sparks already began to fly from the end of the lance, high above his head as he thrust it up into the air. "Autobots! Attack!" He roared before starting to rush forward to engage with one of the Decepticons. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large black Seeker dove out of the sky and collided with Sentinel Prime, causing him to grunt in surprise as it crashed into him. A pair of sharp claws snapped out from the jet form and dug into his sides, clinging on to him as the Seeker sent them both crashing further away from the battles until they were well away from them. Only then did the Decepticon release Sentinel and let him go crashing against the canyon walls as he did a series of flips, transforming. 

A cloud of dust and a rain of rocky debris fell on top of Sentinel Prime, making him groan only once before he was quickly climbing to his feet and facing the Decepticon who had attacked him from the air. He had been expecting Starscream but was surprised to see someone else. 

"The Legend of Jetfire..." Sentinel Prime murmured in surprised. 

Chuckling darkly, Jetfire stood up in his massive size, but stood in a pouncing crouch. He had his large blast cannons trained on the Prime, watching him with his blaring red optics. "That's right, Sparkling Prime. The Legend of Jetfire is not just a Legend." He laughed harshly. "I can't believe you actually fell for this trap. If you used that half twit processor of yours that Primus, himself gave you, you would have realized that it was a trap! Pathetic!" He shot at him. He was only trying to egg Sentinel Prime into attacking first. 

Trouble was, it worked. 

Roaring in anger, Sentinel Prime lunged forward with his electro lance thrusting towards the black Decepticon. He had had enough of the insults that this creature was throwing at him. He moved swiftly but it wasn't enough to take Jetfire by any surprise at all. The Legendary Seeker moved quickly to the side, letting the lance pass under his arm before he swung his huge cannon towards Sentinel's head, hitting him hard with it and sending him flying to the side. 

Moving like a black demon, Jetfire was upon Sentinel before he could even register what was happening. The Seeker slammed the Prime into the canyon wall and was attempting to slam him into the wall again and again. 

Sentinel managed to catch himself on the rocky walls and try to kick Jetfire off of him while swinging his lance back at Jetfire. He just swore loudly when the Seeker moved swiftly out of the way before grabbing him at the wrist. With a heavy cannon, Jetfire slammed it against the lance, bending it out shape and breaking it so it would spark its last. Then he grabbed a hold of Sentinel's chest plate, moving way too fast for the Prime to block his hold, throwing him hard against the ground. 

Being knocked around like that only stunned Sentinel Prime, nearly knocking his vision dark before he felt Jetfire jump heavily onto him, slamming him deeper into the rocky terrain. He let out a painful cry as claws in the Seeker's feet dug into his armor, nearly piercing the inside of his interior. 

"You're the Prime?!" Jetfire barked a harsh laugh as began slamming his heavy cannon hard against Sentinel's head, causing the optic wires to spark and black out a little. He then gripped the Prime's head tightly with his claws, digging them into the sides. "Don't make me laugh, Sparkling Prime! Megatron must be weak if he lets something like you defeat him every time!" He stood up high on Sentinel's chest, digging his clawed foot into his armor and denting it badly. "Thus ends, Sentinel Prime." He stated before aiming his large cannon towards Sentinel Prime's head. The inside began to heat up bright red and smoke began to trail out as he began to activate his cannons to firing and ending Sentinel's life. A close up shot like the he was about to do would be all he needed to offline Sentinel Prime. 

Suddenly there was movement in the corner of Jetfire's vision, making his head jerk up to see what it was and all he saw was a massive mound of metal charging at him. He could only register a startled cry before the Autobot slammed into him, wrapping powerful arms around him and send them both crashing across the rocky terrain. There was an explosion from Jetfire's cannon as it went off, but sent the blast flying into the sky. 

Swearing in Cybertronian, Jetfire kicked the offending Autobot off of him in the middle of the canyon path and stood up quickly to face him. He was only slightly surprised to see how tall this one was. He was a good deal taller than he was. And recalling images that Starscream had showed him before, he remembered this one being called Optimus Minor. 

"Ah," Jetfire chuckled darkly as he crouched down a little facing Optimus Minor who was quickly on his feet and lashing out his arm, revealing a red hot blade from within. "So you're the annoying Optimus Minor that has been pissing Megatron and Starscream off." 

"And you are the Legendary Jetfire. I knew you weren't just a Legend." Optimus Minor spoke his tone dangerous as he stood ready for battle. 

Jetfire chuckled before glancing over his bulky shoulder at Sentinel Prime who was trying to climb to his feet but after the bashing that the Seeker had given him, he was rather weak and only collapsed. "You're going to have to wait for your turn, Minor. I must end my battle with the Prime first. Then I will offline you." He told him as he turned and started towards Sentinel. 

Optimus Minor wouldn't have that, of course. He bolted after Jetfire, quickly grabbing one of his wings while scaling the wall right beside him and slamming him against the wall. Then as quickly as he could, he grabbed a hold of Jetfire's other wing and began spinning to throw him away from Sentinel. He, however, had not counted on Jetfire quickly lashing out and grabbing a hold of his arm and spinning with him. Both huge mechs ended up spinning and crashing into the canyon walls before they finally let go of one another and staggered back until they crashed against the ground. 

Growling in irritation, Jetfire was quickly on his feet, lashing out his cannon towards the tall Autobot and fired a few blasts. "You want to die first, very well!" He snarled. 

Optimus Minor's head came up sharply before he quickly rolled across the terrain and let the blasts explode against the ground where he once had been. Moving swiftly, he was on his feet within nano seconds and was charging at Jetfire again. He had seen the surprise on the Legendary Seeker's face when he saw him coming before he was swinging to fire his cannon again. Jumping to the side, Optimus Minor swung his blade, slicing into the cannon before he spun in a semi circle and sent a punch towards Jetfire's head. 

Taking the blow, Jetfire was sent staggering against the wall. He was very surprised by the blow landing on him but he was moving just as quickly, trying to get away from Optimus Minor so he could attempt another shot at him. He could feel the sparks emitting from his cannon though. That slice from the Minor's blade had been pretty deep. And it did not help Jetfire that he was fast, very fast on his feet. He felt a chuckle rise from within as he tried to duck from another punch Optimus Minor had sent at him before latching onto his back shoulder and throwing him away from the Seeker. He was upon the Minor quickly, slamming him into the canyon wall again before quickly grabbing at the arm with the blade. He let out a snarl of pain when all Optimus Minor did was lash out behind him with the blade, catching the Seeker across the chest plate with it. The hot metal dug into Jetfire's chest, leaving a deep gash within. 

Angry and somewhat annoyed, and amused, Jetfire gripped tightly onto Optimus Minor's back before throwing himself hard against the ground and dragging the Minor with him. With as much strength he could muster, he threw Optimus Minor hard over him, sending him crashing into the canyon wall, causing a pretty nasty landslide. Boulders and heavy rocks came crashing down on top of Optimus Minor, knocking the blade lose from his arm and scattering several feet away from him. 

Only a few moments later, Optimus Minor found himself pinned down by the huge hill of rocks and boulders. He grunted as he tried to push himself up but he couldn't move. He tried wriggling to get loose but still, no luck. 

If that didn't help, Optimus caught sight of Jetfire now moving towards him, an evil grin on his face. He knew that he was right where Jetfire wanted him. He couldn't move, he was pinned down, and he couldn't get his arm up in time to fire at Jetfire. He tried to reach for his blade but it just was too far away. So he began yanking and pulling his arm from under the boulders, shifting them a little until he finally managed to throw it up to fire his blast cannon. 

But Jetfire was just too close now. The Seeker lashed out and caught his blaster arm and slamming it hard against the heavy rocks and then trapping it under his foot. He bent over Optimus Minor, chuckling as he lashed out and grabbed a hold of the Minor's head, yanking it up so he could glare at him with his hot blue optics. 

"You are one brave Autobot, Optimus Minor." Jetfire spoke, his tone very dangerous but full of amusement. "Fighting me, and even managing to beat me to a dent! No one, and I mean not even Megatron has even managed to do that! You really are something, you know that, Minor." The Seeker shook his head as he sneered at Optimus. "It's too bad that you've joined the wrong side. We could really use someone of your talent and skills on the Decepticons' side. Join us, Optimus Minor. And you might actually win this war." He told him. 

Optimus Minor could only growl at him before attempting to shake his head. "I will not serve an army of destroyers! The Decepticons want nothing more than to destroy everything! I will not join in to destroying the peace and prosperity of other worlds and I will not use my skills to destroy other sentient beings! They have a right to choose for their selves and not let us take their choices away from them! Your master will...!" He was saying. 

However, Jetfire growled loudly before slamming Optimus' head against the ground before ripping it back up to look at him. "I serve no master, Minor! I serve only myself!" He roared into his face. 

With a trickle of Energon now spilling from his mouth, Optimus Minor's optics only narrowed dangerously up at Jetfire. "I doesn't look that way from where I'm standing. You're letting Megatron order you to destroying everything! And I will die before I let any one of you Decepticons destroy the choice of life or death for others. I will die fighting you every step of the way!" He said, warningly. 

Jetfire stood there for a very long moment, glaring right back at Optimus Minor, letting his words enter his processor before his features seemed to change. He was now looking somewhat thoughtful. "You really are something, Optimus Minor." He paused to glance over his shoulder to see Sentinel Prime attempting to pull himself over to help Optimus in his state. He was getting much closer, but still was in no position to fight him. The Seeker just turned his crimson gaze back onto Optimus before he released him, stepping back and raising his cannons again. "You would definitely be a problem for Megatron." He chuckled before firing his cannons. 

It couldn't be helped but Optimus Minor flinched under the fire, waiting for the blazing hot blasts to end his life and finish everything. But after a moment of feeling the hot blasts flying past him and shoot at the boulders above him, he found that he could move again. His optics opening in surprise, he pushed himself up a little, letting the rocks and boulders fall off his back before he looked up at Jetfire in surprise as he lift his cannon away from him and stood back. 

"What are you..." The Minor asked in surprise. 

Jetfire only shook his head as he moved back another step. "I don't serve a master, Optimus Minor." He said, his tone very dark. "I only serve myself and my own beliefs. But it seems you have given me something to consider. You say that all sentient beings deserve to choose for their selves. Choose their own fates and destinies and you're willing to protect them from those who could destroy them easily. I think I might just want to see what happens if you let it be that way. I don't find pleasure in destroying everything, Minor. I think I'm going to stand by and see where this goes." He glanced over at Sentinel Prime as he pulled himself to his feet, but leaned against the rocky walls for support. "If you are smart, Sentinel Prime, before you die, I would choose this mech to be the next Prime." 

His words surprised both Sentinel and Optimus. "What?! Optimus?! I will not...!" The Prime growled in anger. 

Jetfire rolled his optics before shooting the Prime a dark look and gnashed his teeth at him. "This is not about you, Sentinel Prime! This is about your mechs and femmes, your Autobots! This is about what you fragging stand for! You are a vain, pompous slag-head! Do not think you are superior to everyone and everything because that will only destroy you!" He snarled at him before jerking his head towards Optimus. "If you are wise in the end, Prime, you WILL choose Optimus Minor to be the next Prime! He is wiser than you will ever be, Sparkling Prime! And his Spark is in a good place! And as long as he is alive and he is Prime, I will fight for the Autobot side!" 

Again, the two Autobots were taken by surprise, staring at the Seeker with alarm. They couldn't believe he had said that. He had just swore an oath right before them. "You will fight for us?" Optimus asked still surprised. 

"As I said, Optimus Minor." Jetfire said, looking back at him, almost lazily. "I swear an oath to Primus' name, as long you are alive, I will fight along side you. I don't think I would ever want to be at the end of your blade again. You are a very skilled warrior and with some work, you could even destroy me. I'd rather see the end of this war before I go. I can't wait to see you become Optimus Prime, Minor. It's going to be very interesting." He said, chuckling. 

Optimus Minor and Sentinel Prime only glanced at each other, surprised that he had just thrown in his alliance with them. They didn't believe it for a minute until Jetfire joined them into fighting the Decepticons who he had lead to ambush them in the first place. It sure surprised the Decepticons when Jetfire started fighting against them and it pissed Megatron off, badly. More than half of the Decepticons became very uneasy about fighting the Autobots after Jetfire threw himself to their side. Starscream and the other Seekers even demanded what he was doing and Jetfire simply said that he would for the winning team, not the losing. Even though the few years after that day passed, he still fought alongside Optimus Minor and even taught him and several others of how a Decepticon fights. It helped the Autobots learn how to predict how the Decepticons would fight at least. 

Still, even after that day, Sentinel still held a grudge against Optimus for saving his life from Jetfire. He didn't trust the Seeker either, even after Optimus started to vouch for him. He just didn't like a Decepticon to fight for their side. But he didn't dare to go up against the Legend again. Not after being beaten like he had. 

For many years, the Autobots learned to trust Jetfire and more than a few younger Autobots and Valkyries began to look up to the Decepticon Seeker. They admired his knowledge of the past and his skills on the battlefield. They all learned that was what Jetfire liked the most. It was the fact that he liked to fight. That was mostly it. Even found that one of the Weapons Specialist, an older Autobot but younger than him, named Ironhide was an interesting sparring partner. He could keep up pretty well with Jetfire, at least. 

And some of the younger Autobots, Spitfire and Bumblebee being two, Jetfire found himself growing close to. He admired their spirits and sparks. They were all feisty and very willing to learn what they needed to survive the war. 

It was the day that Sentinel Prime fell in battle that hurt the Autobots pretty badly though. Even Jetfire. 

The battle took place in a wide open space on Cybertron with only boulders to protect those who hid behind them. The fight started when the Decepticons managed to corner some of the femmes, trying to take them to help create a bigger army for Megatron. Among them had been Elita One, Moonracer and Spitfire. They had been taken by surprise by the Decepticons that ambushed them, though they fought hard to defend their selves until help came along. And none of the Autobots had been happy that the Decepticons would make such a move like that. 

The Battle of Iacon was a terrible one. Many Autobots clashed against the Decepticons and it was there that Megatron attacked Sentinel Prime. 

Optimus Minor had been fighting along side Jetfire, Ironhide, Bumblebee and a few more young Autobots trying to free the captured femmes from the captive unit they were being kept in. They were fighting against the Constructicons who had been left to guarding them. Jetfire ended up blasting into the air when Starscream and Thundercracker started to attack them from the air. So he left the Autobots to take his battle high above everyone. 

Of course, Optimus had seen Sentinel fighting with Megatron, watching him as he fought as bravely as he could, trying to take down the vicious Decepticon leader. He knew that Sentinel would need some help pretty soon but he was more worried about freeing the femmes before they ended up getting hurt when they couldn't defend their selves. 

"Optimus! Things aren't looking good in Sentinel Prime's favor!" Jetfire roared to him from above before he dashed after Starscream when he fired at his back. 

Worry began to flicker on Optimus' face as he glanced back towards Sentinel and Megatron then back to Elita One within the electro cage. She met his optics before shaking her head, jerking it to where he really wanted to be. "Go! The Prime needs your help, Optimus!" She called to him. 

Hesitating, Optimus turned and bolted towards the fight between Sentinel and Megatron, his optics growing a little wider when he saw it was growing more serious than he thought. He watched as Sentinel tried to duck around Megatron's blast cannon only to have the Decepticon Leader feint to the left and jammed his cannon right into the center of Sentinel's chest. "NO!" He called out before trying to double his speed. 

But it was too late. 

Megatron let out a vicious laugh and fired his cannon. The blast threw Sentinel away from him, exploding through his chest plate and sending him flying several feet away from the Decepticon. Time seemed to slow down as Optimus watched the Prime hit the ground in a heap of metal with only Megatron laughing at his victory. His laughter stopped quickly when several Autobots lunged forward to distract him while Optimus quickly tended to their leader. 

"Sentinel!" Optimus Minor yelled before throwing himself forward and come to a screeching halt right beside his rival's side. He could see that the damage was very bad. "Sentinel! Hold on! Medic! We need a medicbot here now!" He flinched away from the sparks flying from Sentinel's chest plate, looking down at the gaping hole in the center. Optimus could see Sentinel's spark flickering, trying to stay online. But it was dying quickly. "Ratchet! Red Alert!" The Minor yelled again, alarm and fear thick within his vocal processors. 

"Opti...Optimus..." Sentinel choked out, his voice zapping now and then. He was fading fast, Optimus realized. And even he knew that. "Optimus...it's...it's too late...SHZZZT. Je-Jetfire was right...ab-about me..." 

"Don't talk, Sentinel!" Optimus ordered him before turning sharply to look around the battle field. "MEDICBOTS!" 

Sentinel's optics were now starting to flicker off and one and his spark was dying even faster. It would not be long before he was offline. "Jetfire...was...right...about...you, Optimus. You will...be...the greatest...I...Sen-Sentinel Prime...hand...the Matrix of Lead-Leadership...to Optimus...Minor..." He choked out before using all the strength he could manage to grab his chest plate and rip it open, revealing the doubled bladed Matrix, surprising Optimus. 

As soon as it was revealed, the center of the Matrix began to glow brightly as sparks began emitting from it, flicking across the blades and all over Sentinel's body. Optimus drew back in alarm before letting out a surprised sound as the sparks began flicker right up his arms and kept moving up. He was more surprised when the Matrix itself began to rise out of Sentinel's chest higher, above him and nearly eye level with Optimus, who stared at it with astonishment. 

"Op-Optimus..." Sentinel choked out as his optics began to flicker out. "...End...this...war. End it...the way...you know...how to. You are...Opti...Optimus Prime." 

Suddenly there was a metallic ringing all around Optimus as the sparks from the Matrix doubled, and began to surround his body. All he could do was quickly rise to his feet and try to move back a little as the sparks trickled down his metal frame. The metallic ring grew louder by the second and eventually made many surrounding Autobots and Decepticons stop in mid-battle to look where the sound was coming. And many stood stock still in surprise as they watched the sparks begin engulf Optimus Minor. 

"NO!" Megatron roared when he realized what was happening. He knew that the Matrix was doing it's job and making its choice. He even began thrashing and shoving Autobots away from him and trying to charge towards Optimus and the Matrix. 

But before he could even get close, there was an explosion of energy from the Matrix, knocking a few Cybertronians off their feet and even threw Megatron back when he got too close. The only one that wasn't thrown back was Optimus, who had managed to brace himself and raise his arms to protect himself from the energy. A brilliant light shining from the center of the Matrix blinded all, and even him from seeing it as it began to spin rapidly until it was just a blur. The heavenly light only grew brighter though, engulfing the entire valley and causing all to raise their arms to shield their vision. 

And as everyone heard the now very loud metallic ringing, Optimus heard silence. It was like he had gone deaf all of a suddenly. The brilliant light surrounding him even dimmed a little enough to let him lower his arms and he was surprised to find himself in a place anew. 

There was mist and clouds rolling past rocky pillars and standing before him were strange but massive Cybertronians. He couldn't see them well because of a brilliant light shining behind them. But there seemed to be at least...twelve of them. They were so much bigger than Optimus was, and there was a strange feeling trailing off of them. A sensation of peace overwhelmed Optimus as he realized who they were. 

"The First Twelve." Optimus murmured in surprise before stepping back. He wasn't sure what to do in the presence of the First Twelve Transformers. Nor did he know if he had somehow died and ended up within the Matrix of Afterlife. He could only stare at the twelve in astonishment and awkwardness. 

"Optimus Prime." A deep but heavenly voice echoed all around Optimus. "You have been chosen not only by the former Prime but by the Matrix of Leadership to serve as the next Prime. We, the Twelve Primes, concur to this decision." 

"But...I..." Optimus couldn't even start what he wanted to say. He couldn't be the Prime. He was a scientist. A warrior too, yes. But there was just no way that he could be the next Prime. It was absurd. 

However, movement beside him cut him off and he was surprised to see Sentinel standing right beside him. He stepped back almost alarmed but felt his Spark drop a little. He knew there was only reason why he could be seeing his former rival in the Matrix of Afterlife. He had offlined and it didn't look like he was coming back. 

Sentinel stood beside Optimus for a moment before turning his head and looking at him. A peaceful smile formed on his metallic face before she shook his head at him. "Optimus, the Autobots need your guidance. You were a Leader before I or the Matrix chose you. Everyone knew that. We all did. That was why I was so jealous of you. You were a created Leader and the Autobots respect you. Even Jetfire realized this. It is your turn to Lead. To Guide. To Fight. And to Protect. You are the Prime, Optimus Prime. It's time to face your destiny." He spoke, his voice now but an echo as he reached up and placed his hand onto Optimus' shoulder. "Go." And with that last word said, he lightly pushed Optimus back. 

It felt like Optimus was falling so fast now. He felt the world spinning all around him and wind was passing through his metal frame, flowing around him, through him. He felt a strength rising up within him that he had never felt before. He felt the power and connection between himself and his comrades. He had become the Prime. 

"Oh. One more thing, Optimus Prime. Give Megatron an aft-kicking from me." He heard Sentinel's voice echo to him before his optics snapped wide open. 

He was back in the field, surrounded by the Autobots and the Decepticons, who were all staring at him in surprise as the sparks from the Matrix began to flicker out. Optimus blinked only a few times before he looked at the slow spinning Matrix of Leadership right before him. It was almost hypnotizing to stare at. 

Suddenly Optimus heard everything. There were now shouts and he heard a roar of rage coming at him from the side. He only a few minutes to glance over to see Megatron right there next to him before time sped up to him. There was a metal crashing blow before Optimus went crashing across the terrain away from Megatron. There were shouts of surprise from his comrades as they watched him get hit hard and end up lying on his side, wincing from the blow. 

"This Matrix is mine!" Megatron roared as he snatched the Matrix out of the air, clutching it tightly in his claws. The Decepticons roared their victory cries, already celebrating the moment that their leader captured the Matrix from the Autobots. 

Optimus grunted in pain before he began pushing himself up to his knees. He looked up when several Autobots were quickly at his sides. But it was Elita One who was right next to him, hand on his back and looking at him with concern and fear. "Optimus! Are you all right?!" She asked trying to help him up. 

Jetfire was soon right next to them, glaring off towards Megatron before looking back at him almost urgently. "Optimus, get up! You can't let Megatron take the Matrix! He will use it to destroy everything we all worked so hard for!" He yelled. 

"Ugh...I...I can't..." Optimus murmured as he got to one foot but rubbed his head. 

"Optimus! Get up!" Jetfire roared at him, stomping a foot heavily. "If you don't do it now, Megatron will destroy all of your Autobots with the power of the Matrix!" 

Optimus shook his head again before glancing over at the fallen form of Sentinel. He felt his Spark drop in pain. He had lost his comrade and friend. He knew that there was no way to revive Sentinel after this. He was now within the Matrix of Afterlife. He felt like hope diminished at the thought of Sentinel being offline forever. "Sentinel...you were wrong." 

"Megatron is coming!"

His optics quickly lift up to see Megatron now approaching him, an evil look on his face and the Matrix tightly clenched in his claws. Autobots were quickly placing their selves between him and Optimus, trying to protect him. But with a swing of the Matrix, they were blown off their feet from the energy coming from it. Optimus jerked up a little when Elita One quickly left his side and placed herself between him and Megatron. She looked very much like the warrior princess she was meant to be. 

"I won't let you destroy him!" Elita One growled, her dagger shooting from its compartment on her arm. 

Megatron only snarled a laugh at her before swinging the Matrix and blowing her off to the side with the Matrix's energy. She let out a painful cry as she crashed into a few other Autobots before quickly getting to her feet again and charging. This time, Megatron kicked out and smashed his clawed foot into her side, sending her flying again. "Worthless femme! I don't need you any more now that I have the Matrix of Leadership!" He laughed harshly before turning to face Optimus again, raising the Matrix to destroy him. 

Red flashed over Optimus' gaze before he was quickly on his feet but not moving just yet. He felt a rage boiling up inside of him after watching Megatron hurting Elita like had done but a peaceful sensation was fighting to take over his feelings. 

"Optimus! Fight for what you believe in! Protect those you care about! We will all stand right behind you, fight for what you stand for! But you must become who you truly are!" Jetfire boomed out. "You are Optimus Prime!" 

Optimus stood up straighter, his head raising high. He had to thank Jetfire later for his words. He felt much strength from them and felt even more confidence in himself when the Autobots all around him began to yell out and cheer to Jetfire's words. He heard yells of appraisal from his comrades and he felt the strength of his army starting to swirl all around him, giving him everything he needed to win this. He would have to thank Elita One for standing up for him as well. 

With his head higher, Optimus lashed out his arm, sliding out his blade from his arm and jabbing it towards Megatron. "Autobots! Roll out!" He ordered before charging at Megatron. All at once with battle cries and cheers, the Autobots began to move as one, charging at the Decepticons and engaging with many of them. The Autobots and Decepticons clashed against one another, attacking and fighting each other. 

Optimus quickly met Megatron with a loud clash, his blade striking at the Decepticon, who managed to deflect it with the Matrix. He moved as quickly as he could to avoid a claw swinging at his head, trying to strike at him. He nearly danced around to behind Megatron before lashing out his blade and slashing it across Megatron's back. The Decepticon Leader let out an outrage but pained yell before spinning to hit Optimus again. It was a deadly dance between both of them, swinging claws and blades at each other and ducking away from their attacks. Optimus, however, was faster than Megatron, moving around him and avoiding the sharp claws that reached for him. He slashed at the Decepticon's arm with the Matrix, trying to cut it loose before diving for it. Megatron tried to jerk it back out of his reach but it was not fast enough. 

With his hand closing around one of the blades, Optimus tried to pull it out of Megatron's grip. It slid out of his grip for only a fraction of a nanosecond before the center of the Matrix flashed again. Like a magnetic had pulled at it, it wrenched out of Megatron's claws right into Optimus' and sent a powerful blast of energy, knocking the vicious Leader away from it and Optimus. 

Surprised, Megatron only staggered before whirling around and staring at Optimus and the brightly glowing twin blades. "What?! But...I had it in my hands!" He roared in rage. "You are nothing but a Minor! I am more powerful than you are! How can it choose you over me?!" 

Optimus gripped the Matrix of Leadership tightly in his hands as he stepped back once before standing up as tall as he could, looking right into Megatron's crimson glare. "I am not a Minor, my brother. Not any more. I am the new Prime. I am Optimus Prime. I stand here, Matrix of Leadership in hand and make this solemn oath. I will stop you from destroying the Universe!" He said, his voice growing bolder and stronger by every word. 

Megatron only snarled at him before trying to charge again, starting another deadly battle with the so called new Prime. He fought hard against Optimus but in the end, he failed to win that battle at Iacon. Soon after taking a vicious blow to the chest armor, Megatron ordered the retreat and left the first victory to the New Prime. Everyone cheered as they watched the Decepticons flee from Iacon, some yelling threats that if they ever came back, they would regret it. 

The celebration of Optimus Primes' first victory did not last too long as soon as everyone remembered that Sentinel Prime had fallen. Many Autobots, along with their new Leader stood around his fallen form, heads bowed in sorrow. 

Optimus Prime bent down beside Sentinel, placing his hands over the gaping hole of Sentinel's chest. He felt Elita's presence right behind him, as well as Jetfire's. But his optics were only on his fallen brother's form, staring at him in sorrow and grief. But even as he grieved for his fallen friend, he felt peace overwhelming him again. He could almost feel Sentinel's spirit still right beside him. 

"Sentinel Prime," Optimus spoke quietly but everyone still heard his words. "He was a brave leader, a proud leader. He fought bravely and valiantly for the sake of the Autobots. We will never forget this day. Nor any day that he lived." He then stood up and turned, looking around at all of the eager faces of hundreds of Autobots that stood all around him. "Remember Sentinel Prime, Autobots. He was our leader, our friend, and our friend. Never forget his memory." He lift his head higher before dipping it down again to look down at the Matrix of Leadership in his hand. He felt strength and power coursing off of it, into him. Venting a gentle sigh, he opened up his chest plate and placed it carefully in his spark chamber, feeling the Matrix's power now joining with his own. It gave him a powerful charge of power and he felt the need to protect it. He breathed deeply before closing his chest plate over it and looking around again. "I am Optimus Prime. Will you accept my Leadership?" 

A sudden burst of cheers exploded all around him, rising like a chorus. Autobots threw their fists and claws into the air, yelling their approval to their new leader. It was almost like music. 

Optimus Prime turned his head and looked at Elita One next to him. She was standing right beside him, looking up at him with a smile. But she never looked more beautiful of his optics. He felt her approval just by looking into his glowing blue gaze. He knew that she would fight along side him as long as it took. 

And it wasn't even long after he became Optimus Prime did he ask Elita One to be his Sparkmate. And she said yes. 

TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

 

"And that was how I met Jetfire and became the new Prime after Sentinel Prime." Optimus explained to his human allies.

Everyone was staring at the Autobot Leader, almost in awe. Almost everyone in the entire room were staring up at him, stopped from what they were doing just to listen to his tale. Everyone was enchanted by it, in all honesty. They had learned something very valuable from Optimus though. They had learned that he had been almost afraid to become the Prime but overcame quickly when one of his closest comrades was hurt defending him.

More or less, hearing about Jetfire egged a lot of the soldiers and even some of the analysts to wanting to meet him. Even Keller, who had been listening very carefully felt like he needed to meet Jetfire. The Decepticon turned Autobot ally sounded like he was very wise but probably could push some buttons. It almost made several smirk to think of how well he'd get along with Simmons. They had a feeling that once the two met each other, things would get very interesting.

"Well," Keller began after a long moment's silence. "I suppose we will have to double our search for your comrade." He turned and began motioning to some of the Communications. "Start scanning the skies for any Blackbird..." He didn't even have to finish.

Because as he was speaking, lights began flashing and a shrill alarm went off, startling humans and Autobots alike. Everyone looked around with alarm, throughout the entire base. It was like some kind of storm warning, or even worst.

"Warning! Warning! Incoming Decepticons! Warning! Warning! Teletraan reporting to Autobots, incoming message from Autobot ally, Decepticon Designation Jetfire! Autobot ally Decepticon Designation Jetfire is under attack! Repeat! Autobot ally Decepticon Designation is under attack! Requesting backup!"


	18. A Turn For The Worse

"And that's how you met Optimus Prime?" Anya asked in astonishment, her legs curled under her body as she stared at the jet's control panel. She had just been listening to the entire story of how Jetfire met Optimus Prime and how he joined the Autobots. She had asked him about it before, asking about what Optimus was like. And so Jetfire explained it to her.

Of course, Agent Domovoi Korbács was now sitting in a seat in the back, strapped tightly against it. He had complained a good deal about staying pinned against the wall. Jetfire had actually been tempted of dumping him out into the sky. But, fortunately to the Russian agent's sake, Anya begged the Transformer to let Domovoi sit down and make himself comfortable. Jetfire hadn't liked it but he allowed the Russian Agent to sit down under the consideration it was in the back, further away from his cockpit. And once Domovoi sat down, he sent straps binding him to the seat.

That had sent Domovoi into a fit of rage, demanding that Jetfire released him at once. He would not allow the alien robot do that to him.

Jetfire only growled at him, causing the straps to grow tighter but not life threatening before telling him to shut up or he would take back his promise to Anya to be nice to him. Domovoi shut up for the sake of Anya but would grumble now and then. But as soon as Jetfire began his tale about his beginning companionship with the Autobots, all was silence but the story.

Now that it was finished, Domovoi was staring off, almost thoughtfully, as if he was considering the entire tale.

Anya, however, was smiling brightly and fiddling with her blonde hair as she listened with delight. She found herself bouncing in Jetfire's seat a few times, making him chuckle but she just listened to his story. She was enthralled by every word but taken back when Jetfire explained to her of how he had tried to destroy Optimus in the beginning. But she felt enchanted again when he explained that he had a change of Spark and decided to fight the side of the Autobots. But when he finished, she had so many questions to ask. She just couldn't figure out which one to ask first.

Domovoi, however, had his own question and he jumped right to it, his face stony as he eyed the jet's control panel. "You said that the Decepticons are the ones who are trying to destroy Earth and everything. But you claim to be a Decepticon. Doesn't that mean you're trying to destroy this Planet too?" He asked.

Jetfire growled only a little, shaking a bit under the two but he didn't sound angry when he answered. "No. I may still be a Decepticon, Korbács, but I will serve under Optimus Prime's command. I would rather not be his enemy. He is the youngest Prime we've ever had, but very powerful and has a strong sense of Justice. I would rather be his friend and allie than his enemy. He doesn't care that I still claim to be a Decepticon. As long as I keep his trust, he doesn't mind. In fact, he'd rather have a Decepticon allie on his side. He believes that someday there may be a way to bring peace between the Autobots and Decepticons without fighting. He, like many of us, are growing weary of the war and wish it to be stopped soon. But he will not put his blade down until there has been a truce between each fractions. He meant what he said to me all those years ago. He will go down fighting before he lets the Decepticons destroy everything in the Universe. He will die protecting those who need protection." He explained.

Anya only smiled as she listened to Jetfire's words. She was liking this Optimus Prime more and more by hearing about him. He sounded like a Leader she would love to meet. A Leader that Earth could use some advice from. "Jetfire," She said before curling and resting her head on the seat's arm, still looking at the control panel. "If something were to happen to Optimus Prime, if he was to die today or tomorrow, what then? Would you..." She felt her face drain of color a little, her heart slowing down a little. "Would you return to the Decepticon side and destroy Earth?" She asked, almost in dread.

"Hmm. I never really thought it." Jetfire said thoughtfully and then he almost started laughing when Anya sat up with an alarmed look, looking very uneasy. She wasn't the only one uneasy. Domovoi had grown just as uneasy as she had. "Oh! Relax, will ya? Have some faith in me. No. I wouldn't. Now that I met an interesting human being such as yerself, Anya."

Anya relaxed, breathing out a sigh. She was only too glad to hear that. She didn't want to believe that Jetfire was once a bad robot. He had been so kind and good to her and he had saved her life. She wanted to believe that there was goodness in him. She could see it.

It was right then a wave of nausia rolled over her, making her wince and wrap her around her middle. She heard Domovoi yell up to her but she ignored him as she tried to swallow down the nausia.

"Anya! Are you all right?" Jetfire asked, with concern.

Anya nodded as she closed her eyes and tried to swallow hard. She had to take several deep breathes to try and calm down. "Yes. I just...I just don't do very well with flying. I don't feel in control and it makes my stomach churn sometimes." She told him before leaning her head back against the seat.

Jetfire was quiet for a moment before he let out an amused sound. "Well, just to make sure you don't expose your stomachal wastes on me, why don't you to take control?" He asked, before the jet gave a very light jerk and began to tilt downward. "Better hurry and take the helm, Anya. We're going down." He chuckled.

"Jetfire!" Anya screamed as she clutched onto the arms of the seat. Her stomach was churning even more at her state of panic. "Jetfire! This isn't funny! Stop it!" She gasped.

"Nope. I don't reckon it is. But we can't have a jet flying without a pilot, now can we?" Jetfire asked, still chuckling.

Anya whined loudly before she quickly put her feet on the ground and looked at the control stick right in front of her. She was trembling violently but not as much as the jet was as it was gliding through the clouds, starting to go down. She heard Domovoi yelling the most obscene things at the giant jet transforming robot but she ignored him as she took a deep breath and grabbed the stick. "I...I don't know how to fly this thing, Jetfire! What do I do?!" She gasped as felt her body freeze up a little.

"Just relax, Anya. Take a deep breath and pull the stick towards you. Firmly but gently." Jetfire instructed her.

The Russian IT, however was breathing rapidly before she pulled hard on the stick. She almost shrieked when the jet gave a jerk and shook violently. "AHHH! What did I do?!" She cried out in alarm as she felt her heart start doing flips in her chest.

"Gently! Firmly but gently, Anya. And breath slowly. It's okay. It's a very long way to the ground, my dear Sparkling. You have plenty of time. And even if you couldn't do it, I wouldn't let you get hurt." Jetfire told her softly. "Now try again. Take a deep breath, slowly. And gently pull the stick towards you."

Taking a deep breath, Anya slowed her breathing and did what she was told. There was a very light jerk before the jet pulled up. She glanced at the control panel, noting the level scale. It was leveling out nicely. That was a breath of relief to her. She licked her lips and stared forward again, her eyes still very wide. "H-how's that?" She asked, her voice trembling.

"Good." Jetfire said chuckling. "Now push forward a little."

Anya did and it felt like the Jet was slowing down a little. She felt her eyes growing wide with wonder instead of fear now. She couldn't believe it! She was flying a jet! "I...Hey! I'm flying! I'm really flying!" she said excitedly.

Again, Jetfire chuckled before he outright laughed. "Well, I don't think Agent Korbács likes your flying very much."

Spinning her head around a little, Anya looked back at the Russian agent, who actually looked like he fainted. She had to laugh as she saw him. She had thought he was a little more braver than that. Especially if he had fell out of the sky too when that...evil robot was fighting with Jetfire in the first place. She looked forward again, lightly pulling the stick to speed Jetfire up again. She felt a thrillful wave through her. She didn't feel so sick anymore, that was for certain. "How do you...go left and right?" She asked in wonder.

"The same way you normally would. To go left, push the stick to the left. Right to the right." Jetfire told her.

Slowly nodding, Anya tried it. First she went left and controlled Jetfire to fly to the left and then she did it right. She was feeling cyked by that time. And then a certain thought crossed her mind. She had always wanted to try something but she wasn't sure how to do it. "Jetfire, how do you do loopy loops?" She asked, almost slyly.

Jetfire chuckled as if he found what she was asking for very amusing. "With a little more practice than you have, my dear. But if you really want to try it, hold tight to the stick." He said quickly before the stick pushed in hard, making Anya gasp but laugh at the same time as she held tight to it.

The jet sped up very quickly, pressing Anya into her seat before it began to tilt upward. It couldn't be helped as she felt a light scream rise up within her. But it wasn't full of terror and Jetfire seemed to know that because he kept at it. He started laughing when she screamed louder as he began to turn in a full circle and flipping completely over.

"WHOA! STOP IT! KNOCK IT OFF!" Domovoi suddenly yelled from the back, making both, Anya and Jetfire roar in laughter as the jet leveled again. He obviously had woken up during that practice loop.

"Hey, Anya! Pull to the right, very hard!" Jetfire told her.

Grinning, Anya nodded before jerking the stick to the right and then let out an excited scream as the jet began to twist and twirl in the air, spinning in circles. She laughed even harder when she heard Domovoi screaming in the back in horror. She really couldn't believe that started to like him. He was kind of a wimp now that she thought about it. But slowly she let Jetfire level again, still laughing. It was time to be nice to the Russian agent.

"Thank you, Jetfire. I feel much better." She told him, allowing him to take control again.

"I don't." moaned Domovoi from the back.

Again, Anya and Jetfire laughed as they both looked to the back and saw that he did look a little green and was bent over as much as the straps would let him. It only surprised the Russian agent when the straps loosened, allowing him to move more freely. He looked forward again at the control panel before his face softened a little. He realized that Jetfire was starting to be a little more nicer to him.

There was a moment's silence between all of them. Anya was staring out peacefully out the window, watching as wisps of cloud raced by the large jet. She felt so peaceful and safe up there in the sky, with Jetfire. But her face and heart both fell as she remembered her father. She really hoped that her father would be all right. She hoped nothing had happened to him.

"You're feeling down again. Would you like to do another loopy loop?" Jetfire asked, lightly.

Anya looked at the control panel with a little surprise before she smiled and shook her head, her arms folding across her chest and she hugged herself. " No. I'm fine. I'm just..." She looked out the window again at the clouds. "I'm just worried about my father, Jetfire. I just don't know...I am so worried about him. What if something bad has happened to him? What am I going to do if he...he's been killed because of what...because of what he sent me?" She asked, cautiously.

There was a long pause as they just sat in thought. Jetfire didn't answer for a moment, letting everything she had said scroll through his processor. He still didn't know what exactly she had on her lap top but it must have been something pretty serious. "Anya, if your father is anything like you, he's probably doing just fine." He finally said after a long while. He was quiet for another minute before the jet lightly tilted as if he was changing course a little. "But while we are on the subject, what is it that your father sent you?"

Anya hesitated, sinking a little lower into Jetfire's seat and looking down at her bag sitting right next to her. She had not dared to take it out while being with Jetfire at all. She wasn't even sure if she should tell him about what her father had sent her. He was one of the alien robots after all. But even thinking about that made her regret thinking it. She wanted to slap herself for not trusting Jetfire. After all he had done for her, she hadn't put enough trust on him. She could change that within only a second right now. She bit her lip, chewing on it for a moment before reaching down and pulled her bag up onto her lap.

"Anya! Don't tell him!" Domovoi said to her sharply. "He's one of them!"

Shooting the Russian agent a look over her shoulder, Anya opened the laptop and switched it on. She was starting to get irritated by him. "Domovoi, Jetfire has saved our lives more than once. I trust him even if you don't." She shot at him as she waited for it to warm up. She at least hoped that she was doing the right thing.

Domovoi swore at her in Russian as he glared at her back. He certainly wasn't happy with her. But even as angry as he was at her, he winced when the straps tightened again. He shot the control panel a dark look for it.

"You better watch your mouth back there, Agent Korbács. I don't kindly to males who talk down to femmes." Jetfire growled.

Anya felt a light smile curl on her face before she lightly touched the wall next to her, patting it gently and reassuring that she didn't mind. She was mostly ignoring Domovoi now anyway. She only took a deep breath as soon as her laptop was up and ready. "Jetfire, my father sent me images while he was stationed on the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon submarine. However, something happened on the sub that made him think that there was a giant robot on it. He felt threatened by something after taking a picture." She explained before trying to find the picture.

Jetfire only hummed gently to let her know that he was listening.

With only a nod, she pulled up the video feed her father had sent her and finally the picture. It was here that she felt uneasy about but she was going to trust Jetfire with the information. "Jetfire, listen to this. This is what my father sent me." She told him before she hit play.

"This is a symbol that I, Vladimir Karpos, have found on the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon Submarine. I do not know where this insignia has come from but it was not on here before. I believe it may be tied to the alien robots that the Americans are claiming that is on our planet. I do not know! But the submarine may be..."

Suddenly Jetfire gave a sharp jerk as lights began flashing on his control panel causing Anya to gasp and slam her laptop shut by accident, cutting off the rest of the message and putting it on stand-by.

"Oh Primus!" Jetfire roared before the seatbelt straps grew tighter on Anya, securing her tightly against the seat. "Anya, put that thing away for now! We'll finish this later! We've just been spotted by Decepticon Seekers! I guess that loopy loops we did caught their attention!" Anya quickly stuffed her laptop back into her bag and hugged it tightly against her chest. She felt her heart speeding up in her chest as she tried to look out the window before nearly smacking her head against the glass. "Sit still, Anya! This is going to be a very rough ride! I can't fight them and protect you at the same time! We're gonna have to run for it!" Jetfire told her sharply before blasting through the clouds.

It wasn't even long before Anya got to see the Seekers either. They came flying out of the clouds, flying beside Jetfire, who started growling at the sight of them. There were three of them so far she could see. One of them was an F-22 with some very strange looking glyphs and markings all over its wings while one was an F-16 with nearly the same strange glyphs but there were some differences to them. Both of them were nearly the same dull gray though the F-16 had strange black lightning markings running from the nose to the wings. The last was a very deep blue and black Night Raven, which was a rare aerial vehicle and difficult to keep up with. If there were any glyphs and markings on it, Anya couldn't see them. And she didn't need to. She knew that it was one of the Decepticons. Jetfire, either way, was growling as he tried to speed up a little only to pull back when the F-22 jerked sideways, forcing him to slow down.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't our old friend, Jetfire." A rough and metallic voice echoed through Jetfire's comm system. It was enough to make Anya shudder and curl up in Jetfire's seat, hugging her bag even tighter to her.

"You have some nerve showing up here, Jetfire!" A rather vile and booming voice said.

Jetfire just flew straight, not seemed too worried right at the moment. Or at least, he was hiding it very well from Anya. He just snorted unpleasant as he kept flying along side the three Jets. "Well, well. If it isn't my old brothers of the air. You're still with these slaggers, Starscream? I'd think you'd dump your femmes a long time ago." He said before quickly leaping higher into the sky as two seperate snarls erupted over the comm system and the two Jets, the F-16 and the Night Raven tried to ram the Blackbird Jet, only to miss and nearly hit each other.

"Skywarp! Thundercracker! Don't let him provoke you, you pinheads!" The first voice, obviously Starscream snarled. The F-22 tilted a little towards Jetfire, as if looking at him. He was quiet for a moment before he let out a harsh laugh. "What is that you are carrying, Jetfire? You're actually serving as a carrier to filthy pests? You have grown weak and pathetic, old mech!" 

Jetfire growled but didn't move to retaliate to Starscream's words. "Do I have to remind you, Starscream, who is an inferior warrior? You could never beat me in a sparring match, old brother. More or less, you could never defeat me in a full out battle to the death! So watch your words, Scientist!" He snarled right back.

The F-22's voice growled viciously over the radio system but kept flying along side Jetfire calmly. "You better watch your tone with me, Jetfire! We were once brothers of the sky but that all changed when you turned traitor to those Auto-scums! All for what?! Optimus Prime?!" He snarled before a rather strange and sharp metallic screech emitted on the system, making Anya cringe at the sound. "That's what I think of you now!" 

"Cut the slag, Starscream!" Jetfire growled pulling a little further to the front. "What the Pit do you want?! You're not attacking me already so there's something you're after! So have it out already!"

There was a long pause as the jets continued to just fly side by side each other. Even the F-16 and the Night Raven was quiet as if they were just going to wait for Starscream to say what he was going to say to Jetfire. But then the F-22 swooped forward, passing in front of Jetfire to get to the other side. "We got word about you from Cyclonus, Jetfire. He and Scourge has spoken to us. They're after the girl that you're carrying and they've requested our help. And we all know that if Scourge is asking for our assistance, then that means we have no choice but to apply it." 

"Starscream," Jetfire growled when Anya whimpered in fear. All he could do was tighten the straps around her, almost protectively. "Don't you dare meddle with this. I don't know where that coward, Scourge is hiding but he has no business with this girl! And since when did you even start working with that scum?!"

"Since Scourge mentioned that Catalycsm has arrived on this pathetic planet." Starscream growled right back.

There was a light jerk and it didn't even take Anya a second to realize that Jetfire had been taken by surprise. She heard and felt the jet all around her grow tense. She could only guess that whatever this 'Catalycsm' was, it wasn't good. "Cata...?! What the Fragging Pit is he doing here, Starscream?! I was aware that he had been destroyed with the rest of the pieces!" Jetfire snarled, though his entire frame was vibrating and starting to heat up all around Anya. She could tell that he was getting angry by the heat now growing in the cockpit.

"You should know very as I do that pieces broke off of him when he was consumed by the Oblivion, Jetfire! As it is, Scourge and Cyclonus are on this planet and you should know what they are up to! They are planning on bringing him back!" Starscream snarled through the comm. "I don't want to be on Catalysm's bad side when he comes, Jetfire! So do yourself a favor and give me that wretched creature you are carrying!" And with that demand, the F-22 dived for the Blackbird as metal ripped out of the sides, revealing arms and claws now stretching towards them.

Jetfire jerked upward, avoiding the reaching claws before speeding forward, blasting away from the three as fast as he could. The pressure of his speed pushed Anya and Domovoi back in their seats, making it very difficult for them to move, more or less, it was harder for them to breath.

"Anya! Hold on to your breath, Sparkling! I have to push up my Mach speed and it's going to be very difficult on you!" Jetfire boomed through his radio as the clouds outside split around him as he stabbed through them. There was a loud boom outside and the jet shook violently. It was not hard to figure out that the Seekers were opening fire on Jetfire. He even growled almost when he ended up jerking sharply as something hit him from behind. "Slagging cowards! They know I can't fight back!" He snarled before kicking up his Mach.

Anya gasped as she felt the pressure of the speed starting to hit her. She felt as if something was squishing her from everywhere, pressing her so tightly against the seat that she felt pinned. It wasn't enough that she was starting to gasp for air as she felt the pressure on her chest. "Je-Jet...!" she cried out as she pressed her hand against her chest.

"I'm sorry, Anya! But I can't slow...! Slaggit!" Jetfire roared before he jerked downward just as a massive white familiar jet came out of nowhere, nearly slamming into him. The Blackbird jet had to spin sharply to avoid getting clawed as a massive arm lashed out from the side of the Falcon 2000. "Damn Fragging Son of Glitch, Cyclonus!" He snarled before having to jerk as the small Sweeps came out of nowhere and began to swarm around Jetfire like annoying bees. They began blasting at him with their cannons, pelting his hard armor.

One of the Sweeps moved very close to Jetfire, turning its sharp looking towards the windows before letting a God-aweful screech before diving right into the Blackbird's side. Sharp claws stabbed into the sides, leaving dents and holes in Jetfire's armor while the Sweep let out another screech before began bashing its head against the glass.

Anya screamed and threw her arms over her head to protect her face from the glass now flying at her. She heard Domovoi yelling but she really didn't pay attention to him.

"DAMMIT! YOU LITTLE...!" Jetfire roared in rage before there was loud grinding of metal and the side of the jet seemed to break right off, transforming into his arm. He quickly lashed out and swiped the Sweep right off his cockpit before speeding up. "Anya! Agent Korbács! Hold on tight! This is going to get even rougher!"

Suddenly there was an explosion of something from behind before the Blackbird rocketed out of the swarm of Sweeps. Everything outside in the sky, if Anya could even tell or not, turned into a blur. It became even harder to breath for her as she was pressed tightly into the seat. She couldn't even imagine of how fast Jetfire was going but she knew it was too fast for humans to be able to withstand. She could feel it by the pressure. That, and the darkness was starting to creep up on her from her lack of air. She found one of her hands starting to claw at the chair's arm she was sitting in but it didn't seem to bother her aerial bot friend at the least.

Jetfire cursed in Cybertronian, though as he sensed the Decepticons right behind him. Starscream and the Sweeps were the closest to him with that lunkering but powerful imbecile, Cyclonus right behind them. He was also keeping an eye on Anya and Domovoi but strange as it was, he couldn't sense much from the Russian agent.

Anya, on the other hand, was not doing so good. Her breathing was slowing to a dangerous pace and he could hear her heart thumping hard to keep going but it was starting to speed up to dangerous levels.

Swearing heavily in Cybertronian, Jetfire quickly dived downward through the clouds, knowing that his former comrades were right behind him. He couldn't keep this up for long for Anya's sake. If he kept going this fast, it was going to kill her. His only hope was to get to the ground, fast and engage with the many Sweeps and the Seekers. He also needed to get Anya some medical attention before she had a blood clot develop within her brain. She was still pretty weak from falling out of the sky and getting battered by the first attack from Cyclonus and the Sweeps. Things were not looking good at all.

'Frag!' Jetfire roared within his own processor before he quickly activated his emergency distress signal. He really hoped that he would be able to find the Autobots soon. Because if he didn't, he wasn't going to be able to protect her and Anya was going to die.

An explosion from Cyclonus' blast ray skinned Jetfire's left side, burning the hull pretty badly. That was going to scar, he knew. It had also melted a few sensory wires, causing him some real pain. "Fragging son of...!" Jetfire snarled before he dived even lower, moving dangerously closer to the ground. He was a good deal far off the earth but close enough to rip leaves off the trees, creating storms of leaves blowing everywhere, as well ripping plants out of the ground like a microburst.

Taking a quick look at his navigational system, he found that he was somewhere in the state of Utah, moving towards the Western border very quickly. He knew very well he was attracting attention with the attacking Decepticons right on his aft.

And that was when he got the transmission.

"...Jet-(static) -Jetfire! Come in, Jetfire! This is Hound at the Autobot Base! Come in!" 

"Hound, shut your slagging mouth and just tell me where you are!" Jetfire only roared, deciding to save his relief for later. He really didn't have the time to let the IT Specialist know of how glad he was to hear him.

There was a shout on the other end of the transmission and it did sound like Hound was cheering or whooping. "Primus! It's good to hear ya, old mech! Do you know how worri...?!" Hound was asking.

"FRAGGING...! Hound! I am under attack right now by Starscream and his cult of aftpipes, as well as a cloud of fragging Sweeps! And that big lugnut, Cyclonus! I'm flying at Mach 3 speed and it's gonna kill this human girl that I have with me if I don't slow down! Shut the fragging Pit up and give me your location!" Jetfire roared, his voice scrambling the sensors a little. He could already see Hound cringing under his raging fit. But right now, he had to get Anya some medical help before she had Aneurysm and died.

"WHOA! All right! All right! The Autobot Base is at the Hoover Dam! Just don't worry about coming here! Just touch down where yer at! Teletraan's picked up your signal and we're coming to you! We should be there in a jiffy!" Hound quickly said.

Jetfire didn't even apply a quick thank you as he dived towards the ground, already starting to click and transform. He had to lash out both arms before opening up the cockpit to catch Anya in his claws as he hit the ground, leaving a huge trail of devastation from his landing. He briefly caught a yelling Domovoi in his other claws before coming to a stop. He moved as quickly as he could, carefully setting Anya and Domovoi down but a cluster of huge boulders. He only glanced at the boulders, seeing that there was enough room for them to take shelter in while he guarded them.

"Korbács! Get her in the cavern as far as you can! I'll fight 'em off from getting to you!" Jetfire roared at the Russian agent.

Anya was only barely conscious after that flight as she was sure having a very hard time trying to catch the air in her lungs after that sudden stop. She felt like her lungs were about to burst. But she really didn't have the time to play the helpless victim. She was already being dragged by Domovoi into the shelter of the rocks before being shoved to the ground behind them. "Stay there, Anya!" He yelled at her, leaving her to struggle with catching her breath and trying not to let her head explode.

Jetfire spun quickly just as Cyclonus dove towards him. He didn't even have time to brace himself when the large white Decepticon slammed into him, sending them crashing and rolling across the Nevada desert floor. They only began punching and firing at each other, blasting pieces of metal from their frames. Snarling, the old mech tried to throw the slightly smaller mech off of him, firing right into his face before getting to his feet. He jerked around to see the Sweeps now swarming the cluster of boulders and hearing Domovoi shouting in startled but anger as he picked up a large branch to fend them off.

Taking only a nanosecond to roll his red glaring optics, Jetfire bolted over to the cluster of rocks and fired at the Sweeps with his cannons, blasting several to pieces and sending the rest scattering as far as they could.

There were three thunderous crashes close to Jetfire, making him spin around to see Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp now joining them on the ground. They were all growling at him as they rushed towards him, ready to help Cyclonus beat the living Pit out of their former aerial brother. Though it was mostly just Thundercracker and Skywarp who were moving forward. Starscream actually stayed back to watch.

Sensing the big lugnut behind him, Jetfire turned sharply to catch Cyclonus' swinging claws from reaching him and throwing him towards his former brothers, knocking them off his feet. They went crashing to the ground with loud clangs and crashes but were soon up and ready again.

With a decent number of thirty Sweeps and four Seekers facing him, Jetfire knew he was in a terrible bind. He could not fight all of them and protect the two humans all on his own at the same time. He could beat his former comrades if he didn't have Anya and Agent Korbács to worry about. But he didn't. He had to worry about them and his enemies.

His blast cannons spinning and heating up violently, the Legendary Seeker crouched down a little, keeping himself between the four Seekers and the two humans. He would not let them get past him and get to Anya. He'd be slagged if he did.

"Jetfire! Just give us the human girl! Is she really worth all this trouble?!" Starscream snarled from behind the other three as they were already moving in on Jetfire's position. The only answer Jetfire gave them was a snarling growl as he dipped his head lower and readied himself for the coming attack. He wasn't going to waste any Energon by talking to them. He needed all the strength he could gather to fight off all of them. "So be it, you fool!" Starscream snarled before jerking his head forward, initiating the attack.

The other three Seekers snarled at the signal before charging at Jetfire, along with the Sweeps swooping down at him. They outnumbered him several to one, plus he was trying to defend two sentients. It would be easy to take him with him distracted.

Jetfire only snarled as he began firing off his cannons at all of his enemies, trying to move fast. He hit Thundercracker and Skywarp in the shoulders, sending them spinning on their feet but missed Cyclonus. It was enough when the Sweeps began diving at him, attacking with their claws and sharp fangs, blasting at him. He had to spin a few times to knock them off and try to knock them out of the air. Several were downed immediately but the others kept him distracted, along with Cyclonus now running right up to him and slamming a huge fist into his head, sending the Legendary Seeker staggering away from the shelter.

Once unprotected, a few Sweeps dove down only to find their way blocked off by Domovoi again. His expression was very dark as he held the large branch in his hand, his clothes ripped up badly from the abuse but he wasn't going to let the Sweeps get any closer to Anya, who was finally managing to collect herself.

The Sweeps screeched loudly at him before they started to attack. They, however, got a face full of wood as Domovoi swung the branch, hitting them hard with it. Splinters went flying from the impact but it really was the best that he could do.

"Anya! Run! Run as fast as you can!" Domovoi yelled over his shoulder before grunting painfully when one of the Sweeps swung an arm and knocked him to the side.

Anya screamed as she threw her arms over her head only briefly before looking up to see that she was completely cornered by the Sweeps. She was nearly pinned down. She couldn't help but whimper fearfully as she quickly looked around for any sign of escape. She gasped sharply when she saw the only escape she could find. An opening through the rocks off to her left was the only thing she could see. With only a quick glance to the Sweeps, she dove for it, ignoring the angry screeches behind her.

Clutching her bag close to her, she dove for the opening and tried to throw herself through it, shrieking in pain when a crushing grip captured her ankle. She grabbed a hold of the rocks, trying to hold tight onto them, even though they scraped her hands up until they began bleeding. It wasn't enough though.

With a sharp tug, the Sweep yanked her back through the opening and dragged her along the ground. It screeched at her as it continued to pull her along the ground, out of the safety of the rocks, ignoring her screams and kicking to get free.

Suddenly, a massive fist lashed out and grabbed the Sweep by the head, crushing it and it only took Anya few seconds to look up to see Jetfire killing it while trying to fend off the other Jets. He was struggling very badly, taking some pretty serious blows from them.

"ANYA! RUN!" Jetfire roared at her before throwing the now dead Sweep right into Cyclonus' face, taking him by surprise.

Wincing, Anya scampered to her feet, clasping the bag to her chest and tried to run as fast as she could away from the massive fight. She could hear Jetfire taking a nasty beating and it brought tears to her eyes to think that he was doing all of this to protect her. He was going to be killed protecting her and all she could do was run. It was more like limp because her ankle was screaming in agony after getting it nearly crushed by the Sweep. She heard the bonechilling screeches from the other Sweeps as they gave chase. She could almost feel their claws reaching for her.

And then she tripped over her own feet.

Gasping painfully as Anya went down, she heard angry screeches pass right over her for a few seconds before there were thuds all around her. She quickly looked around to see at least four of them starting to dive towards her, to pin her down. It looked like it was game over for her. "Jetfire!" She screamed helplessly before throwing her arms over her head to protect herself, even though it was useless.

Suddenly there was a loud roar of an engine before the familiar clicks of a transformation entered Anya's ears. She had heard the same clicks and whirls from Jetfire but this one was much different. It sounded like a car, not a jet!

"YO, DECEPTI-SCUMS! PICK ON SOMEONE ON YOUR OWN SIZE!" Someone yelled before a hot blast slammed into two of the Sweeps, nearly incinerating them then came the loud thuds and the ground shaking booms all around Anya.

Her head jerking up, Anya only saw a flash of blinding blue before she saw a large electric blue robot standing right over her slamming its arm against the Sweeps and crushing them. Her heart nearly stopped to see this new robot but she jumped violently when hands grabbed at her, causing her to scream in alarm.

"Whoa! Hey, hey! It's okay! I won't hurt you!" A young but no doubt male voice yelled over the loud crunchs of metal and blasts.

Anya's head jerked up and she found a young man with blonde hair trying to pull her to her feet, with his still around her. He wasn't looking at her but she could see that he had deep brown eyes, watching the large blue robot now take on several Sweeps starting attack him. She gasped in surprise when several more giant robots suddenly appeared, firing their cannons at the Sweeps and even at the Seekers that were attacking Jetfire. She felt her eyes grow wide as she saw a yellow and black mech joining the blue one to blasting the Sweeps out of the sky while a fiery red one, who looked oddly female now placed herself between the humans and the Sweeps.

"Spitfire! Get them out of...!" The electric blue one started yelling before he was interrupted as the Seeker, Skywarp sped towards them, crashing into him. "Get off of me, Skyfreak!" He yelled before ending up getting slammed into the ground.

The fiery red female ignored him as she spun forward, kicking hard at Skywarp and sending him scraping up dirt. She growled loudly only to freeze when Starscream dropped heavily out of the air, glaring at her with a deep hated look. The Seeker snarled at her before slapped his right arm, hitting something there.

Then there was a piercing scream exploding from the one called Spitfire as she doubled over, clutching at her chest as if she was in pain. She nearly dropped down to both knees, still screaming in pain. It was the worst sound that Anya had ever heard. She knew that the female was in a whole lot of pain.

"Spitfire!" came a girl's scream.

Anya spun her head around, though she was still leaning against the boy for support. She was stunned to see three other young teens standing not too far off but well away from the fights. There were two girls a little younger than Anya and one boy, about the same age. It had been the youngest girl, a blonde with a scarlet stripe in her hair who had screamed. She was now fighting to break loose from the other two to get to the female robot. They were all looking on with horror as they watched the pain the female was going through. The boy holding onto Anya began pulling her back towards the three, trying to get to safety as another Sweep tried to dive at them only to get blasted by the yellow and black robot, who had run up to the fiery red female, looking down helplessly at her. He was now placing himself to protecting the young humans.

"Bumblebee! Stop him! He's hurting Spitfire!" The panicking blonde girl begged. The yellow and black mech didn't look at her but threw his head forward, letting a protective mask fall to protect his face as he glared towards Starscream, who was now starting to charge forward.

"JET JUDO!" came two different voices before dirt kicked up violently as two cars came speeding across the desert floor; a silver one and a bright yellow one, each on different sides of Starscream. The kicked up dust was followed by twin clicks and whirls as they quickly transformed, turning into identical robots. Without a pause at all, both of the robots slammed onto each side of Starscream, and hard.

There was a loud crunch as metal slammed into metal and the Seeker was smashed between the two, roaring in pain and rage from the attack. But he never had a chance to protest again as the two robots spun outward away from him and kicked out with their legs, slamming into his front and back with them.

Anya gasped again when she heard the roars of more engines and even a siren before blasts of gunfire and cannons exploded in the air. She turned sharply to see several vehicles quickly arriving to join in the fight. Her eyes couldn't have gone any wider as she watched a huge Semi truck fly past them, speeding towards Jetfire and Cyclonus, who was doing a good deal of beating her friend to the ground. For a moment, she felt her heart stop as she slapped her hands over her mouth. "JETFIRE!" She screamed in terror. She truly believed that all of these robots were coming to help destroy her friend.

But she got the shock out of her life when she saw the truck make a quick transformation over the dirt and rocks, turning into a massive sized robot, who then lashed out a blade from his arm and sliced it across Cyclonus' side.

Jetfire's head came up sharply when he sensed the Autobots' arrival but really did not have the time to look at them. He had heard the Twins' usual battle cry when they attacked a Seeker and he could have chuckled if he had the time. Right at the moment, Cyclonus was bashing him a good one. He couldn't believe he was actually getting brutally beat up by this imbecile.

That is until he felt the familiar presense of his closest ally and heard his familiar transformation. He didn't even have to look to see Optimus Prime as he quickly joined him and attacked Cyclonus with his blade. He only smirked as he watched the Autobot Leader create a pretty nasty gash across Cycylonus' side before kicking out and knocking him back away from Jetfire.

"It's about time, Prime!" He had to bark out at his comrade.

Optimus Prime only barked out his own laugh before he was charging at Cyclonus again, blade swinging as the Decepticon had tried to come back for some more. He immediately stopped when the Decepticon did, freezing in his massive foot steps to look at the Autobot Leader with alarm. "You can scorn at me later, Jetfire. But right now, let's get rid of this scrap metal."

However, he really didn't need to.

Because as soon as Cyclonus got a second look around, he knew very well that he couldn't finish this fight. He already seen Starscream throw the twins off of him before before blasting into the sky with Thundercracker and Skywarp quickly following. It was a fool's decision to stick around.

Taking a few steps back, Cyclonus then spun around and blasted into the sky right after the other three Seekers, yelling at the Sweeps to quickly follow. They hesitated before doing what they were told, which came as a surprise who was actually paying attention. Either way, the fight was over and the enemy had retreated.

Optimus turned around and looked at the Legendary Seeker, who was down on one knee, panting heavily from his wounds. He had gotten pretty beat up after being ganged up by the four Seekers and the Sweeps. It worried the Prime a little to see his friend in such a state like that. He moved over and placed a hand onto Jetfire's gashed up wing, looking at him with concern. "Jetfire, are you all right? I can call Ratchet over here to look at..." He was saying.

Jetfire waved him off, shaking his head as he pushed himself to his feet. "Don't be calling that old grump over here, Optimus. I don't want to hear his Glitching right now." His optics then flashed when he heard a scream. He jerked around towards the sound, as did everyone else. He knew that scream from anywhere after hearing it so many times. "Anya!"

Anya had panicked. She really couldn't help it when so many giant robots just started surrounding her, looking around at the mess that had been left behind. She just felt herself freak out. That was it. She yanked away from the blonde boy and screamed, trying to scamper away from them, even as everyone jumped and turned their eyes and optics onto her.

"Hey! Hey! Wait a minute! They're not going to hurt you!" The blonde boy said, trying to move towards her again. He regretted it immediately when she kicked at him, hitting him hard in the shin. "AH! SHIT!" He exclaimed in pain, dropping down to a crouch and began grabbing at his leg where she kicked him.

Several of the robots drew back in alarm while the electric blue one growled loudly, sounding rather angry that she had hurt the guy. He even started moving, glaring down at her and that sent her another screaming fit as she tried scamper back away from him.

"Hot Rod! Move any closer and I will wield your aft on a berth! She's having a panic attack and you're not helping!" A large greenish yellow robot yelled at him as he tried to move a little closer. He stopped immediatley when Anya screamed again only to trip over a rock and land hard, wincing like everyone else.

Not even Sam, Mikaela or Elena could get close to the screaming girl as she tried to drag herself away from the Autobots. "Man! What's wrong with her?!" Sam asked in great concern. He didn't like the looks of this at all.

"She's having a panic attack, Sam! She can't breath! Ratchet!" Mikaela said as she spun around, looking wildly up at him. "Do something, Ratchet! She's going to hurt herself even more!"

Ratchet looked pretty torn between jumping at the girl and trying to calm her down and staying back. He had already figured out why she was panicking. She was only used to one robot and not so many. It couldn't be helped that she was panicking.

"Anya!" Jetfire yelled before he came thundering over with Optimus right behind him. He was standing over her within seconds, using a finger to help her sit up. She flinched away from him, screaming again but he wouldn't let her get too far. "Anya! Calm down! It's okay! I'm here!" He had to yell over her screaming.

Still gasping for air and breathing very rapidly, Anya was fighting herself from not keeling over right there. She had almost not heard Jetfire's words by her screaming but when she did, she clutched onto his metal hand, peering at the other robots with fear as they stepped back even further when the tallest, red and blue motioned them to give her more room. She was left to only gasping for breath and feeling extremely dizzy. "J-J-Je-Je-Jet...Jetfire...wh-what..." She couldn't even get her words out.

Jetfire shifted only a little as he wrapped his hand around Anya, letting her sit on it while he cupped her gently. He didn't lift her up, knowing that she didn't any more shock right now. She had had enough. "They are the Autobots, Anya. You are safe now. Calm down. Take a deep breath, Sparkling." He told her very softly. He ignored some of the bewildered looks he was getting. He knew fully well that the Autobots weren't used to seeing a gentle side of him. He hardly ever showed one. But right now, his attention on Anya.

Trembling, Anya stared warily at the many robots, who were watching trying to calm down. She let out a shaky breath before turning her head and pressing it against the warm metal of Jetfire's hand. "Jetfire...I don't...I don't feel so good." She murmured weakly as she closed her eyes tightly now. She jumped a little when she heard metal now approaching. She looked up in fear to see the greenish-yellow robot taking a few steps towards her and Jetfire, but stopping to raise his hands in the air.

"That's Ratchet, Anya. He's the medicbot, remember?" Jetfire reassured her as he slowly began lifting her up, yet stopping few times when he felt her shaking violently in his hand. He then nodded to Ratchet, allowing him to move very slowly towards them.

Anya swallowed hard as she looked from Jetfire to Ratchet, still clutching tightly to her friend. She flinched a little when a red beam emitted from the green robot's wrist, running over her. She cringed a little but allowed the beam to rove over her body, not that she had much of a choice. She could only whimper in fear before looking up at Jetfire again, seeing what his reaction was to it. And seeing him watching her calmly, she relaxed only a little.

"Oh, Primus." Ratchet suddenly groaned before dropping his arm. "Jetfire, she needs medical attention right now. She is not in good shape at all. She has been pretty battered up. She has severe bruising on her right shoulder indicating it was dislocated long before, her ankle is bruised severely and she has a minor concussion, which looks like she's still trying to come out of it." He made a pretty disgruntled sound as he glared at the Seeker. "I can't believe you actually flew with her while she had a concussion! She's lucky she's not dead yet!"

"Oh, shut up, Ratchet! Like I had much of a choice! I couldn't just sit around and wait for some human hospital take care of her when Cyclonus and the Sweeps were chasing us!" Jetfire growled right back.

"Heh. The grumpy old mechs are back together." Sideswipe remarked as he smirked at his twin brother, who smirked right back. The both of them ignored the heated glares that Ratchet and Jetfire shot at them.

The argument quickly died away when the tall Autobot Leader held up a hand as he moved very slowly forward so not to startle Anya again. He was watching her carefully for her reaction but she all she did was eye him cautiously. "As long as she is safe and is taken care of immediately, everything is fine. Jetfire, try to convince her that we mean her no harm. As soon as we get back to the base..."

"Wait!" Anya suddenly cried out before looking around from her high perch. She looked rather frantic, searching for something. She even pushed at Jetfire's fingers to loosen them, which he drew them back. And then she nearly had another panic attack when she didn't see her bag, nor Domovoi. "My laptop! Where's my laptop?!" She gasped, searching frantically.

It only took a moment to locate it but it was a right at Trent's feet, which he picked it up and dusted it off. He then held it up to Optimus who carefully took it from him and held it out to Anya, who drew back only a little before she slowly took it from him. Her eyes stared directly into his glowing blue optics for a moment before she looked relaxed.

"Thank you..." She murmured.

Optimus only nodded before stepping back to watch as she quickly opened her bag and yanked out her laptop. He had to cringe like everyone when they saw the state the laptop was in. It was coated in dirt and cracked badly. Even Anya made a pretty terrible sound as she ran her hands over the damaged cover then flipped it open. She hated the fact that the laptop's cover had been destroyed but to see that the screen was smashed, she knew it was gone. The laptop was dead. There was no saving it. It had been crushed.

A terrible sound escaped her as she stared at her laptop in horror before quickly checking the hard drive. She froze in alarm and horror. It was destroyed too. Everything in her laptop was gone. There was no way to retrieve any information from it.

"Oh..." Anya gasped before grabbing at her blonde hair, shaking her head. Tears filled the brims of her eyes and then began to trickle down her cheeks as she realized that the information her father sent her was destroyed. "No...no..." She began to cry, shaking her head.

"Uh...someone want to tell me why she's crying?" Sideswipe asked, before yelping when Ironhide slapped him hard over the head. "OW! I mean it! I'm not just being an aft! I just want to know what's wrong with her!"

"Because that laptop had information that might save her father." Jetfire said gravely as he watched Anya curled up a little, still staring at her laptop in helpless defeat. He only shook his head as he reached over with his other hand and gently plucked the damaged computer from her lap. She did nothing to stop him. His crimson gaze then flashed over to Hound, before he held it out. "Hound, do your stuff." He told him. His words perked Anya up only a little.

Hound slowly walked over and held out his hand for the laptop, letting Jetfire drop it into his palm. He merely glanced at the girl, noting how she was watching him with teary eyes. It killed his Spark to see her like that. He felt like he really needed to help her with this problem. But clearing his vocal processor, he turned his gaze back onto the small computer in the center of his palm, curling his fingers a little so that they were right over it. He ignored some of the startled cries as every one of his fingers opened up their compartments and claws, metallic pliers and wires began to move out of them, poking and pulling the laptop apart.

"What the hell...?!" Lennox voiced the human's stunned thoughts.

But no one bothered to answer him as they watched Hounds' small tools in his fingers began to work, pulling the casing apart and tossing the pieces to the side. The claws began plucking up pieces of the hard drive and wires began poking into them before there was an explosion of sparks from them. Hound suddenly went very still and his optics dimmed and flickered quickly.

Sam and Trent glanced at one another then over to Elena as she stood next to Spitfire as she just sat at the feet of Bumblebee, trying to recuperate aftering Starscream activated his device in her. They were all staring at Hound, watching him as he worked with the broken laptop.

"What is he doing?" Mikaela finally asked, glancing up and around at everyone.

There was a few hushed sounds from some of the Autobots before Hot Rod shook his head, folding his arms. "He's just doing what he does. Even if that thing is broken, he can suck up all of the information and intell that's in those pieces before they vanish into cyberspace." He informed all of them.

Even Anya had heard that and grew very still as she watched the IT Specialist carefully now. She felt like hope was returning again. She hadn't thought that the Autobots might be able to do things like that. But then again, these giant robots from a different planet were surprising her with everything. There might just be a chance that she could find out what happened to her father and see if he was safe. There might...

Hound's optics flashed and he grew very still, looking almost stunned. The tools connected to his fingers even stopped moving, almost frozen. It was like he just stood working, himself. That wasn't it though. He had looked over all of the information that was in the laptop, scanning all of it quickly and storing it into a corner of his processor for Anya before freezing up when he found something that stunned.

"Oh...Slag. That ain't good." He finally said sounding horrified.

And hearing those words made every Autobot tense up as they watched Hound carefully. They could feel that Hound had seen something that he wished he hadn't. It was all written right on his metal face. It was Optimus who asked, "Hound? What is it? What did you find?" He asked, in concern.

Laughing weakly, Hound turned his optics onto the Autobot Leader. "Oh. Nothing in particular. Only that the missing submarine that everyone's looking for and freaking out about has Unicron's symbol etched onto it. Looks like one of his Extentions just showed up." He said very quickly and trying not to sound like he was about to panic. Everyone, mostly the Autobots and the Legendary Seeker froze with blank horror.


	19. Revealed

Hearing those fateful words coming from Hound's voice processor had seemed to put all of the Autobots on edge. They simply became very quiet, including the twins and that made the humans uneasy.

After the little enlightenment, and a long stunned pause as all of the other Autobots stared at Hound with wide optics of horror, there came a few shouts of questions aimed right at the Autobot IT, who cringed under each and every one of his comrades. He had been expecting his companions to react like that, though Optimus Prime, Jetfire and Ratchet were the only ones who kept their cool about the new situation.

"ARE YOU FRAGGING SERIOUS, HOUND?!" Both of the twins yelled at the very same time, their voices nearly as one.

"You better not be glibbing, Hound because if you are, I will offline you!" Ironhide roared, his cannons whirling to life, very loudly.

"Are you fragging kidding, old mech! Don't be telling him that! Please, oh, please, Hound! Tell us that you're glibbing!" Hot Rod groaned as he slouched a little. "I do NOT want to deal with that guy again or any of his fragging Minicons!"

"This is so not good." Arcee said, her fist pressed against her mouth as she watched Hound as he cringed a little more. She wasn't panicking but she wasn't any happier than any of the others.

Unlike the ones shouting though, Spitfire only looked at the IT with horror, her metallic hands curled over her chest plate, as if her spark was causing some pain. She was trembling, there was no doubt about that and only a few noticed. Elena being one, as well as Sam, Mikaela and Trent. Even Bumblebee noticed and it roused him to be very concerned, moving closer so he could place a hand onto her arm, getting her attention. She shook her head at him though, almost begging him not to say anything.

Some of the other humans, however, were watching with unease as some of their Autobot allies had a bit of panic attack and judging by them actually having panic attacks, they knew this 'Unicron's Extention' was very, very bad.

"Whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!" Lennox had to shout, repeating those words a few times so that he could get everyone's attention. He even had to wave his arms in the air and jump up and down to get their attention. "HEY! Autobots! Can we stop yelling at Hound for a single minute?!"

It took a minute for everyone to quiet down, though it was due to the fact that Optimus held up a hand and called through their comm links to quiet the panicking mechs. More or less, his optics flickered over to Mirage as he came speeding across the terrain with Blaster and Epps and watched as they joined them. Judging by the look on the other two Autobots' faces, they had already gotten the news about Hound's discovery. Blaster looked pretty shaken while Mirage shot Spitfire a dark look the minute he transformed. She ignored him though, continuing to staring at the ground in speechless horror.

Finally, it was quiet among the entire group, Lennox heaved a huge sigh before motioning to Hound. "Okay. Let's start again. What the hell is a Unicron's extension?" He asked again.

There was a pause as the Autobots looked at one another before Jetfire snorted loudly, making a few jump, including the rather frightened and not feeling so well Russian girl in his palm. "They, humans, are considered the Heralds of Death. Minicons, I guess you could say. Pieces broken off of Lord Unicron, who is known as the Chaos Bringer and Star Devourer." He shook his head as he looked around at all of the humans. "He's the First Decepticon and second Cybertronian to ever be created in our ancient history. And the most destructive. He destroys planets and stars, consuming their Energon for power."

"Hot Rod already told us about him." Sam remarked, making several eyes and optics trail over to him and the three other teens. "He said that he was pretty bad. But he was destroyed, right? Unicron was destroyed by a black hole, right?"

Optimus nodded only once as he folded his arms over his chest, looking away. He looked very grave about the entire situation. This was not a good thing to be learning about right now. Now with the constant watch for Decepticon activity. "Yes, to our knowledge. If he had not been, he would have attacked Cybertron again but he has not for nearly a few hundred years. Only there has been a few sightings of his Extentions. Sideways, Scourge and Cyclonus are the most active. We have not see any others." He looked over at Hound. "Can you tell which one it is, Hound?" He asked.

Hound only shook his head, still looking very uneasy as his optics flickered back and forth, looking over all of the information he had pulled out of Anya's laptop. "No. But judging by the size of that submarine, it's a big one. Could be..." He was saying.

"It's Cataclysm." Jetfire suddenly spoke up, his voice processor dead of any friendliness. He ignored some of the startled looks he got from the others. "Starscream mentioned him earlier. It has to be Cataclysm."

"Oh...any one but him." Ratchet groaned, rubbing his chin and not looking so well.

"Cataclysm? I'm guessing that's really bad." Epps remarked, making a pained face. He groaned a little when some of the Autobots nodded. "That ain't good at all, man. He any worst than Megatron, though?"

A vents were released as the Autobots looked away. That wasn't any better. It was a very bad sign. The humans couldn't imagine anyone worst than Megatron but if this 'Cataclysm' was worst, then the world they knew was doomed.

Another sigh escaped from Optimus before he lowered his arms and straightened even taller. "We must bring this to your Heads' attention. I think it best if we alert Secretary Keller and perhaps the United Nations. If Cataclysm is truly on Earth, we must act quickly before he causes any damage if he hasn't already. Hound, you and Blaster are to start searching the Planet with Teletraan. See if you can find anything. We must find Cataclysm before it's too late." He gave his orders to the Communications and Intel, receiving nods from each.

Ratchet looked to Jetfire, eyeing the young woman still sitting in his palm, watching and listening carefully to every word. She was rather pale and she didn't like any of this. It frightened Anya even worst than before. She couldn't imagine what her father must have been going through if he was any where near the Cataclysm monster. "I think it best if I treated your friend immediately, Jetfire. I'm surprised she has not collapsed yet from exhaustion. It must mean she is rather strong willed or stubborn beyond all reason." He said, before chuckling when the young Russian rose an eyebrow at him, almost asking if that was insult.

More or less, Jetfire chuckled as he turned his crimson gaze onto Anya. "Aye, she is." He shook his head when he received the look next from his small friend. "Anya, I know you're feeling very frightened right now. I can hear your Spark, your heart, beating faster than it should. But you have to trust Ratchet. He's going to take care of you." He told her.

Anya tensed, especially when he took a few steps towards the lime green Autobot. She felt herself curl up only a little. "J-Jetfire, what..." She was stammering.

"Sparkling, trust me, all right?" Jetfire spoke softly to her. "We need to head on to the Autobot base but right now, because of the state you're in, you need to ride with Ratchet." He shook his head when she started to look even more afraid, it possible. "Hey, now. Don't look at me like that, Sparkling. He's a doctor, remember? You've got way too many injuries because of me and he can help you. Now take a deep breath and just let him." He told her.

Several of the Autobots, minus Optimus and Ratchet, looked pretty stunned that Jetfire was talking like that. In all of their years since they've even known the Legendary Seeker, they have never heard him talk like that. He was always barking at people, snapping orders whenever he was in charge, being somewhat like his old Decepticon attitude self. But this was a completely different side of him that they had never seen.

"Whoa. Jetfire's turning into a Grandpa figure." Sideswipe said, pointing at the Seeker with wide optics.

With a bit of annoyance, Jetfire shot the twin an acid like look before he threw out his arm and shot a minor blast in Sideswipe's direction. There had been a few shouts of alarm as humans ducked or spun around to see the blade wielding twin quickly drop down into a crouch, avoiding the blast only by a hair. The blast only left scorch marks across his back, but he was laughing nervously as he stood up again, rubbing the back of his head with his metal hand.

"Hm." Ironhide chuckled with a few others. "There's the old Grump we know."

The humans didn't look as comforted as the Autobots were while some were laughing at Sideswipe. They just eyed Jetfire with unease. "Uh...is he going to be safe around us?" Lennox asked, grimacing when the old Seeker shot him a look next.

Optimus chuckled holding up a hand to Jetfire and shaking his head at him. "Yes, Major. You will be safe around Jetfire. He...he can be rather aggressive and temperamental," He paused to smile a little apologetic to Jetfire when he grumbled at those words. "But he would never harm a human without my permission. That blast was harmless even to our own. It would have only stunned Sideswipe but a little." He reassured them.

The humans were only half reassured.

"Wa-wait, Jetfire." Anya said, looking around frantically towards the rocks where the Sweeps had been attacking her. She sounded frightened again. "Jetfire! What about Domovoi?! Where is Domovoi?!"

Several heads turned in the direction where she was looking while Jetfire merely glanced over there. He let out a loud hum before turning and walking towards the boulders with some of the Autobots following after him.

"Domovoi? What's that?" Hot Rod asked, sounding rightfully confused.

"A human, supposedly." Jetfire answered not sounding concerned at all. "He's a Russian Secret Agent who was ordered to locate Anya because she held information on the Russian submarine and its humans. I had no choice but to bring him along because Anya wouldn't leave without him." He shook his head before moving around the cluster of boulders and looked around. He and Anya didn't see anything or anyone, much to the young woman's great dismay. "I didn't like 'em much. There was something about him that I wanted Ratchet to analyze him and see if my suspicions were right."

"Suspicions? What were you so suspicious about?" Epps asked as he and the humans followed.

Jetfire didn't answer right away as he looked around before looking back at his comrades. His optics stopped on Spitfire though as she was frowning deeply, looking towards the ground. "That Domovoi Korbács was a Pretender." He said simply before nodding to her.

With a snarling growl, Spitfire swooped down, slamming her claws into the ground, startling nearly everyone. A lot of people and the other Autobots swung around with alarm as they watched her begin fishing around through the hard ground quickly before starting to yank her arm back out of the ground. She seemed to be pulling at something and that sent a lot of her comrades whirling their weapons to life. But what she pulled out was not what they expected.

It was a man, yelling up quite the fit as he was pulled from the ground. He was thrashing in Spitfire's grip, yelling out for help now.

"Domovoi!" Anya cried out in happiness, yet alarm. She was just happy to see that he was alive. "Let him go! He's..."

Spitfire only growled as she glared at the man in her hand before she threw him hard down onto the ground that would have killed a normal human being before stomping onto him, pinning him down. "I know that scent!" She growled as her arm quickly twisted and shifted into her cannon and trained onto the 'human' under her foot. "I knew you were around here somewhere, Scourge! I could smell your vile Energon within a mile."

Nearly everyone were surprised by what she said and even some of them frozen in place. Domovoi Korbács had stopped thrashing after he got slammed into the ground, going deathly still as if he was dead from being thrown like that. But after that name, his eyes flashed open, flaring black and red before a twisted smile curled onto his face. "Hello, Spitfire. How's our favorite pet?" He asked, his voice slowly starting to sound metallic.

The humans stared with alarm and horror as the man under Spitfire's foot began to click and warp, his human form starting to melt away into nothing. He began shifting and growing to a different size and height but he was still trapped under Spitfire's clawed foot. He had a little bit of a serpentine look about him, his body long and slender almost like a snake's. He didn't even seem to have back legs at all, just a pair of arms gripping at Spitfire's foot, digging into her metal frame only to stomped on by her. His claws looked razor sharp and were leaving small scratches as he tried to push at Spitfire's foot, which didn't work. She was much bigger than Scourge was. His face even seemed to take on a snake like look to it, while sharp needles were bared from his mouth.

Anya was the most horrified and alarmed though. Her breath caught in her chest as she slowly covered her mouth with the back of her hand. She couldn't believe this. All that time, Domovoi had been...he had been..."Yo-you...you're a Sweep?" She said, her voice trembling.

The ten foot robot not laying beneath Spitfire turned his black and crimson optics over onto her before a smirk curled onto his metallic face. "No, my dear Anya. I am the Pretender." He sneered at her.

"Scourge. I should have known it was you." Jetfire growled, his fingers curling around Anya, almost protectively. "You vile piece of scrap."

"What the hell is that?" Epps asked, standing next to Lennox, looking fully alert at what was happening.

Spitfire growled again, sounding more and more like an angry tiger as she dug her foot harder against the Pretender she had trapped under foot. "Scourge, the Master of the Sweeps. He commands the Sweeps into battle. They listen to him and him alone. Only rarely they will listen to Cyclonus, that is if Scourge tells them to." She said, her voice like acid.

Optimus moved closer, narrowing his optics onto the trapped Decepticon. He didn't look any happier than any of the Autobots did. Seeing Scourge here was not a good thing. But when a meek voice spoke up, he had to turn, like everyone to look at Anya as she stared at Scourge with terror.

"Wh-why, Domovoi?" Anya murmured.

Scourge flicked his optics up at her, sneering at her again. "Why what? Why did I pretend to be a human called Domovoi Korbács? Because that's what I do. I am a Pretender, after all." He grimaced when Spitfire dug her foot harder against him and he shot her a look. "It was fun though." He looked back at Anya, who looked like she was going to be sick. "It's so amusing of how a human can be so easily deceived. It was especially amusing when you actually started to like me. And I don't mean as a friend." He said, chuckling rather evilly.

The only reaction he got from Anya was a whimper and her burying her face into her hands. She couldn't believe she even thought of Domovoi was good. More or less, he had been right. She had started to like him since being on Cyclonus. He had made a good looking human and she had started to create a crush for him. But now, seeing what he really was, who he really was, she felt sick to her stomach and it made her feel worst.

Snarling, Jetfire almost moved forward, wanting to crush him. He wouldn't tolerate this vile creature taunting Anya like he was doing right now.

However, before he got any closer to the Decepticon, Optimus caught his arm, eying Scourge just as seriously as any was but he knew that this creature was the only source of energy they had right now. "As much as I would love for you to crush Scourge, my old friend, I'm afraid I can't let you. We need to know more about the situation and since we have Scourge, he's the only one we can use to find out what is happening with the remains of Unicron." He looked over at Ratchet and then to Mirage. "Put him in forced recharge for now. When we have him secured, we will begin the interrogation. But for now, let's get our human allies back to the base where it's safe. I don't trust Cyclonus to stay away for long."

Everyone nodded as they began their transformations. Ratchet, however, went straight to where Spitfire was keeping Scourge pinned down, his arm flipping and clicking as it turned into some kind of gun. And even as he approached the two, the Pretender was now thrashing around, trying to get loose. He was sure making a scratching post out of Spitfire's leg, making her wince only a little but keep him down with her foot. "Hold him down, Spitfire. I'll take care of those scratches later after I work on Miss Karpos." The Autobot medic told her, his voice a little soft and comforting. He offered her a light smile before he fired a blast at Scourge, causing some kind of surge that knocked him offline. "I'm happy that you're on our side again."

Spitfire looked a little surprised by Ratchet's new change of attitude towards her, but she smiled back nonetheless. She realized she was gaining his trust again just by helping them with Scourge. It would make things easier for her then. "I won't ever betray the Autobots again, Ratchet. I swear to Primus." She told him in a quiet tone before she took her foot off of Scourge when he stopped moving.

"Yeah, yeah. Move it!" Ironhide grumbled, apparently hearing what she said as he bent over and snatched Scourge up, throwing his long serpentine body over his shoulder. "Let's just get back to base."

Some of the humans didn't really hear what they were saying due to them watching Jetfire carefully setting Anya down, who seemed to be a little weaker than she would have liked. As soon as her feet touched down on the dirt below her, her legs threatened to give out and she almost stumbled.

But before she could get even close to hitting the ground, arms quickly caught her by her own arms and lift her back to her feet. Rather surprised, she looked up only to see the blonde haired boy from before, Trent.

"Careful." Trent told her before gave her a light smile and shifted to stand next to her, swinging an arm around her, letting her lean against him for support. "Here. Let me help." Anya was rather taken aback, but she nodded her thanks to him. She didn't even glance up when there came a few light laughs picked up around her. She was just too tired to. But Trent, on the other hand did look around and saw more than one person and robot were smiling as they watched him. "What?"

Sam, Mikaela and Elena were fighting back smiles as they glanced at one another, eyebrows raised. They found this rather amusing. "Oh, nothing, dear cousin. It's just kind of cute of you for being so gentleman like." The pretty blonde said as she folded her arms.

Trent shot her a narrowed eyed look and shook his head at her. "Oh, shut up." He growled at her, ignoring some of the laughs that broke up. He just helped a rather weary Russian girl over to Ratchet when he transformed into his vehicle form. And when Ratchet's human form stepped out to help him with her, he had to keep her from jumping back in alarm. "Easy! Easy. It's Ratchet, just as a human."

"It is only a holographic molecular image, created by Hound so that we can take on human forms." Ratchet said, offering Anya a smile as he held out a hand towards her while the doors on his back end opened up to let her get in. He didn't blame her at all when she hesitated in to taking his hand. He just smiled calmly at her and helped her into his back.

"Is she going to be okay?" Trent asked, glancing at the medic as he helped Anya onto a gurney so that she could lay back and rest.

Ratchet merely glanced over at him before looking back at her, carefully putting a blanket over her and offering her a pillow he was keeping in one of his hatches. "She'll be fine once I get her back to the base and treat her injuries." He told him, glancing her over again before looking at Trent with a smile. "Why don't you ride with me as well, Trent? Maybe it's best if another human stays with her until we get back to the base. She's still very frightened of her new situation and she's under more stress than I would like."

Trent hesitated before he turned and looked up at Hot Rod, who was close by, watching and listening quietly. It was the truth to say that the Spy Changer didn't look too happy but he seemed to guess that Ratchet might have had a point because he offered his young human ward a smile and nodded. "I'll be right behind ya, bud." He told him grinning.

So with a smile and a nod right back to Hot Rod before he climbed into the back once Ratchet stepped out and flickered out view. He sat down next to the small gurney, looking down at the still rather nervous Russian girl, who eyed him warily before closing her eyes with a cringe as the back doors closed with a click and Ratchet started up his engine. Smiling, the former jock reached over and touched her hand, startling her. "It's okay. I'm really new at all of this too. I was kind of scared of them when I first met them. But they're really not bad." He tried to reassure her.

Anya was still a little nervous but she tried to give him a meek smile before it vanished again as she jumped a little when Ratchet hit a bump. Her hand immediately lashed out and wrapped around Trent's tight, surprising him for a moment before his face softened as he held her hand. He was starting to like the looks of this.

"Hound," Optimus spoke as he watched his comrades transforming and allowing their humans to climb safely in them, or in Arcee's case, let Mikaela sit carefully on her seat. It was the Autobot Leader, the Legendary Seeker and the Autobot IT who hadn't transformed yet. But after a moment, Optimus turned and looked at the young IT, frowning slightly. "When we get back to the base, I would like see all of that information you've just collected from Miss Karpos' computer." He then turned his optics onto Jetfire next, who was watching as Ratchet was already starting to pull to the front of the Autobots and hurry back to the base. "Jetfire, I'm looking forward to hearing your report since you've arrived here in Earth. I'm curious to know why you hadn't contacted me sooner."

Jetfire narrowed his gaze a little as he still watched Ratchet moving further away before he finally looked back at the Autobot Leader. "I'll let you know later, Optimus. Not right now. I just want to make sure Anya is going to be okay." He told the Leader.

Optimus Prime, however, just smiled, his optics softening quite a bit. He wasn't used to seeing the soft side of the Seeker. Like the other Autobots, he had never really seen how gentle the Seeker could be. This was first for even him. But he was just glad that he got to see the sentiment side of Jetfire. A true honor even. "Of course. Let's roll out." He told the Seeker and the IT before making his own transformation into his truck form and driving after the others while Jetfire blasted off into the air.

 

Getting back to the base was no problem and it didn't even take long. It was what was awaiting for the Autobots that was the problem.

As all of the cars and trucks and the motorcycle began to file right into the giant hanger, every one of them came to a quick halt when they found a very pissed off looking Aussie tapping her foot as she waited impatiently for them to return. Next to her was a very nervous looking Glenn, clutching onto a box of Ho-Oh's and a just uneasy looking Reno Banes.

"Oh, slag. Maggie looks mad." Bumblebee spoke out, sounding rightfully uneasy.

"YOU!" Maggie suddenly shouted, jabbing her finger forward, her eyes flashing dangerously. She ignored the fact that nearly all of the Autobots rocked backwards from her rage, alarmed by her sudden outburst.

None of the Autobots knew who she was talking about and it only took them a few moments, and glancing around to realize that her finger was jabbed right at the sunny yellow Corvette Grand Sport that Sunstreaker was using as a guise. And rightfully so, the car wheeled backwards, almost just as startled as everyone else was, wondering why the Pit this human was yelling at him.

"What?! Why are you pointing at me?!" Sunstreaker demanded, through his radio system.

Maggie glared even harder, almost as if she could strike him down just by doing so. She took a few threatening steps towards the sunny colored car, who rolled backwards until he nearly bumped right into the Jeep Wrangler Hound was disguised as. If looks could kill, Sunstreaker would be utterly destroyed. "You son of a bitch! Why did you leave me behind when I asked you to let me ride with you to meet this Jetsky guy!" She nearly screamed at him.

"That's Jetfire." growled the spoken Seeker as he came through the hangar doors after transforming into his bipedal form.

It didn't really help correcting her though because he was ignored. Maggie just glared right at Sunstreaker, who wanted nothing more than to back away from the very pissed off blonde human. Unfortunately for him, Hound was right behind him and he was nearly boxed in by his twin brother and Ironhide, whose doors opened and Will hopped out.

"What are you talking about?!" Sunstreaker demanded though, sounding very irritated.

"WHEN EVERYONE STARTED LEAVE, GENIUS!" Maggie shouted at him, now standing right at his front bumper, glaring right into his windshield as if looking into his hidden eyes. "I asked you to take me with you so that I could see if Anya was with that jet guy and if she was okay and you just sped off without even answering me! I wanted to go with you! Anya is my friend! I have been working myself to complete exhaustion trying to find her and when she shows up, you leave me behind!"

"Has she been like that since we left?" asked a rather perturbed but amused Ironhide. He seemed to be looking at Glenn and Reno.

And as if they knew that, the two men looked wide eyed at the large Topkick and bobbed their heads up and down into a yes. "She was so pissed that she threw the computer she had been working on against the wall." Mikaela's uncle said, only slightly amused but uneasy at the same time. "None of the techies wanted to scold her for it. I think they're still hiding in the bunkers, waiting for her to blow something up." He looked directly at the Sunstreaker, who creeped back further from Maggie just a bit until his bumper was nearly touching Hound's. "Dude, you fucked up big time. Never piss off a woman. Hath no fury than a woman scorned. And man, she is scorned." He said, nodding to Maggie.

It was right at that moment, Ratchet gave a light jerk before quickly rolling forward. "Slag! I need to get Miss Karpos to my med bay right now! Her vitals just slipped down a little! Move it!" He barked at Hot Rod, for he was in the way.

Maggie's flaring eyes flashed before she looked at the medic, watching as he tried to squeeze past the electric blue Porsche, which quickly rolled back and allowed to move. "Anya?! You have Anya?! Is she okay?! Did she get hurt?! What do you mean her vitals fell?! Is she dying?!" She demanded, now taking several steps towards him.

However, the lime green Hummer rolled right past her, not slowing down at all. "Not now, Maggie!" He nearly barked at her, leaving her just standing there, watching him as he sped through the hanger towards his med bay. He didn't even seem to realize that there was a slightly hurt look on her face.

Optimus released his air brakes into a sigh before he clicked and began to transform, moving back a few steps away from any of the humans. His eyes were on the still form of Maggie, knowing very well of how upset she was. Without taking a pause to even think about it, he bent down and carefully set his hand behind her, startling her as he gently scooped her up. "Don't mind Ratchet, Maggie. He takes medical situations very seriously and can be harsh sometimes. He means well though." He then glanced around at everyone. "Autobots dismissed. Take some time to recharge for a while or try to relax." He told them.

"Easier said than done, Optimus." Sideswipe said as he transformed, still glancing uneasily between his twin brother and Maggie, who both were glaring at one another. "I don't think any one of us can relax after learning that there's an Extention on Earth."

"Huh? What's that?" Glenn asked, sharing a glance with Reno.

The Autobots glanced around at everyone almost anxiously before looking back at Optimus, who let out another long sigh. He knew that this was not looking good at all. But right now, he didn't have time to deal with it. There were too many things happening at once. "I will be debriefing Secretary Keller as soon as I get all of the information." He then glanced over at Hound. "Hound, I will meet you in your lab later. I want you to sort out every thing that Miss Karpos has dealing with the submarine. Also, program Teletraan to begin looking for the submarine's whereabouts. Blaster," He looked over at the small Autobot, who was sitting on Mirage's shoulder. "Begin scanning the web and communications for any kind of destruction. If we know Catalysm, there will be some kind of destruction to get our attention. Mirage, help him."

"Yes, sir." Both Mirage and Blaster said, straightening up like the soldiers they were. Hound only nodded sharply before he turned and started directly for the Communications and IT room.

"Hold up, man! I'm coming with you! I wanna see what you're so freaked out about!" Glenn said, jogging after the Jeep. He only jogged a little before ending up out of breath, bending over.

However to his relief, Hound turned around and waited for him, smiling faintly before bending down and offering his hand to the hacker. He allowed for Glenn to sit down in his palm before turning and walking on.

Optimus nodded his approval as he watched the Hologram and IT officer leave before looking at Ironhide, who had Scourge secured and tied down in his bed. "Ironhide, take that scrap metal to the brig and keep an eye on him. Don't let any one near him until we're ready to deal with him." He gave the order. Ironhide nodded before starting to shift and transform, not caring that Scourge just fell out of his bed and landed in a loud crash. "Ironhide, just be careful with him. You know how dangerous he is." The Autobot Leader sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." The Weapon Specialist stated before roughly grabbing Scourge and throwing him over his shoulder, then began to stomp off with Will and Epps trailing after him, wanting more information about the Pretender.

Maggie turned her eyes onto Optimus, almost pleading. "Optimus," She said, catching his attention. "I would like to see Anya. Please, please let me. I just want to be there for her."

Optimus was already bobbing his head into a nod as he turned and started directly for the med bay. He already got the idea that was what she had wanted. And he couldn't see a reason why to deny her request. After all, she was Anya's friend and she had rendered herself very tired for the past several days trying to find her. "Very well, Maggie." He, however, paused and turned around to look directly at the sunny colored twin, who was talking to his brother and looking very irritated. It was more than likely they were talking about what just happened. "Sunstreaker," The Autobot Leader said, catching the other's attention. "Come with me and Maggie."

Sunstreaker blinked only a few times before sharing a surprised glance with his twin brother than back. He knew better than to ignore an order from the Prime so he walked after him and Sideswipe started to follow after him. "Optimus Prime, sir? What is it?" He had to ask.

"Just Sunstreaker, Sideswipe." The Autobot Leader said, before looking back at Sunstreaker, shaking his head. "Just come with us. I need to have a word with you as it is."

With only a glance over his shoulder at his twin brother, Sunstreaker followed Optimus, many thoughts running through his processor. He didn't know exactly what his boss needed to say, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like this. Not. One. Bit.

"So..." Sam asked as he and Mikaela stepped back from Bumblebee, watching him as he transformed into his bipedal form and stand up straight. "What now? What are we suppose to do?" He glanced over at a just as confused Elena, who was looking around. "Elena?"

"Did any one see where Spitfire went?" Elena suddenly asked, surprising anyone who heard her, which was mostly everyone.

Frowning, humans and Autobots alike looked around, noticing that the fiery red Ex-Valkyrie had, in deed, vanished from the room. There was no trace of her at all. And no one seemed to have seen her leave and if they had, they weren't saying anything yet. It definitely put some of the Autobots on edge, looking frantically around for the femme. Mirage even looked like he was going to start a search party, his cannons starting to whirl to life. He probably thought she was up to no good.

And as if guessing that was what he was thinking, Jetfire snorted loudly and looked around at everyone. "Let me guess, you all have been treating little Spitfire like slag because of what she did those years back." He said, almost dully. He received quite a lot of obvious looks.

"She betrayed us, Jetfire. Don't tell me that you still trust her after she did that." Hot Rod said rather sourly, ignoring the looks he got from Sam, Mikaela and especially Elena.

Jetfire snorted as he went over and leaned against a wall, giving every single Autobot in the area a very dry look. He wasn't amused but he was fooling them pretty well. "Guess I can't blame ya for that one, Roddy." He ignored the very nasty look the Spy Changer shot him for that name. He just looked around at everyone, shaking his head. "For your information, since I even arrived on Earth, I picked up Spitfire's signature. I've always known where she was." He nodded once when everyone looked very surprised. "Yep! I knew she was here on Earth from the minute I got here. I knew where she was. Why didn't I give you a heads up about it? Because I don't fragging care what she did. I don't care that betrayed you, Autobots. What makes you so sure that I won't betray you? I am a Con, ain't I?"

The only answer he got was a lot of surprised stares from all of the Autobots still in the hangar, and some of the humans.

"Bu-but...you're Optimus Prime's friend! That's why we..." Sideswipe stammered over his words.

With a narrowed eye trained in the double blader's direction, Jetfire shook his head. "Don't matter, Sideswipe. I'm still a Decepticon. You all know that." He turned his burning gaze onto Mirage next, who was looking rather serious about what they were talking about. "Mirage, don't be throwing a pity party for yerself just because of Spitfire's betrayal." Now the Stealth Officer looked surprised by his words. "So, Optimus said to follow her example before she stabbed us in the back and then a couple of the younglings did just that! Big fragging deal! The one bot out of all of you that should be more upset because of what she did is either the Prime because he lost his sparkmate or Bumblebee!" The Seeker growled jabbing a metal claw in the direction of the very astonished yellow and black Scout. So far, I don't see that happening!"

"Why should Bee be more...?" Hot Rod was asking with a frown.

Jetfire shot him a look before pushing himself off the wall and facing the gunner. "It ain't your business, Rod. It's Bee's and Spit's business." He growled right back before he turned and started for the med bay. "Leave 'er alone, Bots. That femme has been through the Pit while being with the Cons."

"How do you know that?" Arcee asked, her head tilted to the side.

The Legendary Seeker didn't answer for a moment as he kept walking but he stopped in the door way, leading towards Ratchet's med bay. He just stood there, staring off down the corridor before he heaved a sigh. "Traitor or not, Spitfire was, and is an Autobot. If I know the Decepticons more than you do, and you know I do, they did not treat her well. They probably beat the slag out of her every single day while having to stick with them. They beat her but didn't offline her. Probably just out of fun for it. And knowing Ol' Megatron, he probably did it too." He finished before leaving.

Sharing a saddened glance, Sam, Mikaela and Elena slowly nodded, all thinking about what Spitfire told them, Bumblebee and Hot Rod. Spitfire had said that she did get beaten a lot while she was with the Decepticons. So if Jetfire was saying it too, then it must have been true.

Bumblebee made his choice right after Jetfire spoke his piece. He went to look for Spitfire.

 

"Hey, Doctor Hatchet!"

The medic's body grew very rigid and his optics flashed angrily as he turned and shot the Seeker a very dark look for the usual nickname that those trouble making slagging twins had given him since he even first started treating them in the war. He really hated that name. It was getting very old and it stilled pissed him off every time he heard it. "Jetfire," Ratchet hissed, his watery blue optics darkening just a little. "Did I not warn you, and those ridiculous twins and Hot Rod and Jazz and any one of the other Autobots not to ever call me that?!"

The Seeker ignored his anger as he approached the large water drum that was being used as a medic table, looking at Anya as she laid on a medical bed. He frowned slightly to see that she did look very peaceful asleep but more or less, both Maggie and Trent were standing right beside her bed, watching her. "How's Anya doing?"

The blonde Aussie looked up, rather surprised by how sentimental he sounded about her friend but more or less, very relieved that he was concerned.

Ratchet let out a long sigh, deciding not to let it get to him about the ridiculous nickname. He just turned his optics back onto the young Russian girl, looking very concerned. "She's not doing so good, Jetfire. She's very exhausted and her body has taken on so much stress. If she does not get a lot of rest, she may make herself very ill. She's going to have to stay in my Med bay for the time being until I give the okay that she can leave it." He shook his head. "Other than that, she's recuperating just fine. She gave us a bit of a scare with her vitals dropping like they had, but it was just the fact that she fallen asleep. I wasn't watching her as closely as I should have while returning to the base. With a lot of rest, she'll be fine." He looked back at the Seeker. "I'm very surprised at you, though. You actually sound like you care for her."

Jetfire snorted as he shot the medic a look before reaching over and gently touching the side of Anya's face, making Maggie and Trent just a little uneasy. "Truth be told, Ratch, this little one's softened me up just a bit for only being with her for a few days. She's a sweet Sparkling. I do not want to see her get hurt again." He then lift his head and glanced over to the far side of the med bay, where Optimus was talking to Sunstreaker. And boy, did the yellow Autobot not look happy. "What's going on over there?"

Ratchet gave a loud snort of laughter as he glanced over at the Autobot Leader and the young warrior before shaking his head. "Apparently, Optimus thinks that Sunstreaker needs to be a little more...friendlier towards the humans. Since he's even arrived, Sunny's been a bit rude to the humans. So," He paused with a chuckle. "He's appointing Sunny as Miss Madsen's Guardian."

Maggie rolled her eyes as she turned and folded her arms, giving the medicbot a rather annoyed look before glancing towards Sunstreaker and Optimus. "I don't need a Guardian. Especially one like him! He's such arsehole and he's rude and vain and I so want to key his precious paint!" She hissed, angrily.

Jetfire threw his head back and just laughed. "Oh, Primus! Do I feel for you, young femme. Sunstreaker is not the kind you want to piss off." He laughed.

"Hah! Jetfire, you do not know Margaret Madsen!" Ratchet barked with his own laugh. "She's as stubborn as they come. I feel bad for Sunstreaker, or maybe I don't. He deserves every thing she dishes out at him."

"Actually, it's not Margaret." Maggie quickly interrupted, her arms folded and she was giving the medicbot a very annoyed look. "I hate that. It says Maggie on my birth certificate."

Ratchet cleared his throat, looking somewhat embarrassed and apologetic.

"Let me guess, he and Sideswipe pulled another prank on you." Jetfire asked, grinning at the medic. Ratchet scowled as he turned away and began grumbling something about his tools being covered in Vaseline.

 

It had taken him a while but he eventually found her standing at one of the hangar doors, overlooking the large river flowing through the dam. Spitfire was leaning against the door frame, just staring at the water with a very troubled look on her face. Something was definitely bothering her and it didn't take a genius to figure that out. Bumblebee didn't like seeing her like that at all. It bothered him.

Venting a sigh, the Scout slowly approached his former best friend, watching her carefully. She didn't seem to realize that he was there because she hadn't looked at him. She didn't move at all. But as he moved closer, her head came up a little.

"Bumblebee, please. Don't." Spitfire murmured before she pushed herself off the wall and started to walk forward, to leave him standing there.

However, Bumblebee wouldn't have it. It was time to actually talk to her about everything. He reached out and caught her by the arm, startling her to turn and look around at him. He kept a very determined look on his face as he just looked directly into Spitfire's optics, shaking his head. "No more running away, Spitfire." He said quietly. "We need to talk. You have got to stop pulling away from me when I'm trying to help."

Spitfire frowned briefly before shaking her head and trying to tug her arm free from his grip. She had to blink once in surprise when he wouldn't let go. "Bumblebee, there's nothing to talk about. And...I don't need your help." She told him before tugging harder and freeing herself from his grip. She shook her head again at him before turning to go around him. But to her frustration, he side stepped and got into her way. "Bumblebee!" She told him before trying to go around him. She only growled louder when he did it again and actually smirked slyly. "Bumblebee! Stop it!"

"Not until you talk to me." Bumblebee said stubbornly.

Sighing in frustration, Spitfire clapped a hand against his chest and lightly shoved him out of her way, trying to go back inside. She figured she just better return to the quarters where she had been staying with Elena.

But, once again, Bumblebee grabbed her arm and swung her back outside as he placed himself in the door way, folding his arms and looking stubborn as ever. He still kept a very determined look on his face while Spitfire turned around to glare at him. "Not until you talk to me." He said firmly.

"Argh!" Spitfire growled before launching herself at Bumblebee and startling him. But not so much when she tackled him and they both went crashing across the hangar door. She gripped the front of his armor, now trying to shove him against the ground while glaring at him. "Bumblebee! For the last time, I don't want to talk to you!" She told him sharply before trying to climb off of him and walk away.

Still, Bumblebee wouldn't have it. He quickly reached out and grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her back down to the ground. Quickly, he spun both of them around until he had her pinned down. "Spitfire, I need to understand something..." He was saying firmly.

"What's not to understand, Bee?!" Spitfire almost yelled before kicking him right off of her and right outside. She was quickly on her feet and following after him, frustrated beyond no limit. She had figured that he wasn't going to stop trying to get her to talk to him so it was just better to push him away in the one way she had come to learn a long time ago. She was quickly on him, grabbing him by the armor again and shaking his frame. "I betrayed you! How can you not understand that?!"

With a quick maneuver, Bumblebee grabbed her arms and sent her, once again, spinning over him until he had her pinned down again. And this time, he just sat down on her, pinning her arms down beside her head, even while she struggled.

Their little scuffle, however, had caught some attention. Some of the military men had been watching with some anxiousness and one even decided to get a hold of Ironhide and Mirage. Both of them had came running but it was the Weapons Specialist who stopped them both from going outside when they watched Spitfire try and throw Bumblebee off of her, only to fail. He was too much stronger and heavier than her so she began to break down.

"I betrayed you!" Spitfire yelled at him, her vocal processor starting to quiver before she just stopped struggling. "I almost got you killed, Bee. Why in the name of Primus would you want to talk to me after I did that?"

It grew quiet between the two, even as Bumblebee still kept her pinned below her. He stared down at her for a very long moment, almost surprised at her breakdown. He just watched her as she closed her optics and turned her head away from him. And there was really one answer he could give her. "Spitfire, I want to talk to you because...I want to be friends again. I don't...I don't blame you for what you did." His words startled her, causing her to just stare up at him. He just shook his head. "You were scared, Spitfire. You didn't want to die at the hands of the Decepticons. I guess they really are kind of scary but..."

"Bumblebee," Spitfire interrupted, now pushing at him to get off and she was relieved when he drew back a little releasing her arms and let her sit up. "It wasn't that I didn't want to die at the hands of the Decepticons that scared me." She sighed as she glanced away before looking back at him. "I didn't care if I died, Bee. I would have gladly sacrificed myself for Optimus' cause. But...It was you that I cared about dying. I betrayed the Autobots to save you." She told him, her voice hardened. "I told you that when I told Hot Rod, Sam and Mikaela and Trent and Elena. Megatron was going to kill you and I couldn't let him. I was trying...I was trying to protect you."

There was a very long silence. Neither one said anything as they just let the silence drift between them. But after a long time, Bumblebee reached out and lightly pulled her towards him, wrapping an arm around her into a comforting hug. "All this time you were trying to protect me..." He shook his head. "Maybe it's time I protected you."

"Bee...just..." Spitfire sighed before lightly pulling away and climbing to her feet.

"No. I mean it this time. I'm going to protect you. From Starscream, from Megatron. From anyone who tries to hurt you." Bumblebee said, almost sternly as he stood up. "Even if I have to, I'll protect you from Hot Rod and Mirage. I won't let them hurt you."

Spitfire spared a look at him before shaking her head and turning away again. "Don't do that, Bee." She sensed him starting to speak again so she whirled back and gave him a just as stern look. "I mean it. I've put enough strain on you and the Autobots. Pit, I think I've put too much strain on Optimus Prime and I don't know what I can..." Her eyes then lit up as if something just hit her.

Bumblebee frowned, his head tilting a little. "Spitfire? What is it? Did...?" He was asking.

But the Femme shook her head as she glanced at him, almost smirking before she grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the base. She nearly froze when she saw Ironhide and Mirage at the door but instead of cringing back, she rolled her optics. "I swear, no privacy!" She grumbled before looking at Ironhide. "Ironhide, where is Optimus Prime?"

The Weapons Specialist grunted once, sounding very irritated but he shrugged, folding his arms across his large chest plate. "I dunno. The med bay maybe. But he's probably going to beheading to Hound's lab soon. He wanted to...Hey!" He called after the femme when she took off.

"What is she up to now?" Mirage asked, very suspiciously.

"Pit if I know." Ironhide growled.

TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

 

Red optics flickered on and a low hiss escaped from the captive Decepticon as he pushed himself to a sitting position. Scourge couldn't stop himself hissing like an angry snake as he looked around his new situation. He was in a large metal cell with an electric charged door, and there were no windows. It was big enough for someone like that Weapons Specialist. Glancing up at the ceiling, it looked like it could be opened up for someone big to get into.

Snorting, the Pretender rose up and began to move towards the door, examining it. He narrowed his red optics for a moment before tapping the door only to get a nice electric jolt, causing him to jerk back.

"Hmm. Fascinating." He turned and scanned the ceiling, noting where the opening creases were and nodded. "It seems that the humans' imprisonment skills and the Autobots' technology has been merged together. With them working together, it gives them a chance against the Decepticons." His sharp fang filled mouth curved into a nasty smirk before reached up with a claw and tapped the inside of his chest plate, where an orange insignia began to light up. "Scourge reporting," He began.

TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

"Scourge reporting," came the incoming transmission through the giant dump truck's radio system, startling the Russian IT out of his sleep. "I have located it, Master. And it seems...that your favorite pet is here too." 

"Hm." Vladimir jumped at the sound of the robotic monster's voice through the radio. "Transmission received and acknowledged. Standby, Scourge. You've done very well. You shall be rewarded later on." 

And the giant Liebherr picked up its speed through the Californian desert. It wouldn't be long now before it reached its destination.


	20. Blackmail

"What?!" Sideswipe yelped when he heard the words come out of his twin brother's mouth, not being able to believe it at all. More or less, he kept glancing off to the side at the very annoyed looking Maggie Madsen as she remained standing next to Anya Karpos' medical bed. He couldn't believe that Optimus was so serious about doing this. "Okay, run that by me again, bro. You...are now...a Guardian?"

Sunstreaker snarled angrily as he shot the all so noble Autobot Leader a dark look, who was ignoring him as he now spoke with Jetfire. "YES! Can you believe it?! I have to watch some temperamental, crazed fleshie...!"

CLANK!

"HEY!" The yellow Corvette snarled when the small wrench slammed into the side of his head. He immediately whirled around and began glaring at the very pissed off Aussie IT for throwing it at him. "If you scratched my paint...!"

Maggie glared just as hard at Sunstreaker even if he was looming over her. Any other person in their right mind should have been terrified with having a huge alien robot glaring threatening at them. If she had been anyone else, she probably would have been. But she wasn't anyone else. She was Maggie Madsen. And she wasn't going to let this vain, pompous freakazoid push her around. "You will do what, Sunspot?!" Her voice very thick of venom as she slammed her fists against her hips, glaring up at the Corvette.

Growling, Sunstreaker raised a fist as if he was going to bring it down but feeling the glare of his boss on him, he didn't do it.

"Sunstreaker, you put that fist down or I will weld your aft to the ground and force you to recite lines a thousand times." Ratchet even threatened, glaring over his shoulder at the sunny colored Autobot.

"Optimus," Jetfire asked, now a little warningly as he glanced at the slightly taller mech. "Are you sure it's a good idea making Sunny the Guardian of that human? If this continues, they just might kill each other."

The Autobot Leader only sighed and shook his head as he reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was starting to reconsider it too. He knew Sunstreaker might not be happy about it but with Maggie throwing things at him, he was going to have to assign someone to watch them so that quote on quote accidents don't happened. Maybe he would get...

"Sir," Hound spoke up as he entered the med bay, looking pretty shaken about something. "Sir, I've been examining all of that information as you asked me to and I found something pretty serious."

Everyone went quiet and looked at the IT, almost confused yet uneasy. If he was putting it like that, it must have been serious. Optimus straightened and nodded. "What is it?" He asked, keeping the official tone in his processor.

Hound heaved a huge sigh before looking up at the ceiling first, not answering just yet. "Sir, with your permission, I think I will have Teletraan call that Secretary Keller and let him hear this two. The sooner he knows about this, the better. The information that I found on Miss Karpos' computer, it's not good news. It is about Unicron." He waited for a second for Optimus to nod before nodding himself. "Teletraan, contact human official, Secretary of Defense of the U.S, John Keller."

"Teletraan acknowledges. Contacting Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, John Keller. Please standby by until connection." 

It didn't even take long for the connection to be completed and for John Keller to answer his phone. In fact, he sounded like he was in a meeting himself and it wasn't going so well. "S.D. John Keller, here, this isn't the best time, Optimus Prime, we're in a very..." He was starting to say.

"Is that those creatures?! No, Keller! Let him hear this! This deals with them!" Someone was shouting from the background.

Every single being, human and Cybertronian, stiffened as they looked at any speaker from where Teletraan's voice was coming out of. They didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like arguments were pretty heated on Keller's end of the line. Jetfire was the only one out of the lot who didn't look uneasy or even unimpressed, nor impressed, itself. He just gave a speaker a blank look. "Well, cheery group of humans." He grumbled before looking back at Anya and watching her sleep.

However, putting on his serious Leader mode, Optimus straightened to his fullest height and cleared his voice processor. "I'm almost afraid to ask what is going on, but right now, I think it's best I should update you on the situation. We have..." He was saying, but once again was cut off.

"Update us on the situation?! That would bloody well be nice, robot! Do you have any idea what is going on out there?!" Someone else was demanding.

"Prime Minister Halliwell, please." Keller spoke up, probably holding up a hand towards the British Head. It was obviously a UN meeting now, just to the Autobots' luck. "Optimus Prime, I know a lot has been going on and you've been probably busy but something serious has just happened on the West Coast. It seems to me..." It was his turn to be cut off.

Skittering metallic clicks sudden came bursting into the Med Bay, making quite a lot of bots and humans turn sharply only to see Blaster running in and making quite the racket. He was clicking and whirling in Cybertronian so fast that even the Autobots, their selves, were having a hard time understanding him. Even so, it shut the UN up from arguing on Keller's end of the line.

Optimus frowned as he took a few steps towards the small Communication officer, who scampered up the large medical bed and leapt up on top of it. Blaster was talking so fast as he faced the Autobot Leader and jumping up and down frantically. "Blaster, calm down and speak slowly. What are trying to say?" He asked again, waving a hand at him.

"What in the name of Primus...?" Sideswipe was saying.

"Optimus, what is going on?" Keller asked through the Communications system.

Optimus only shook his head as if Keller could see him before turning his full attention onto Blaster, waving a hand at him again. "Blaster, calm down and take it slowly. What are you trying to say? I can't understand you when you're talking too fast like that." He told him calmly.

Clicking irritable, Blaster stopped for a moment and stomped a foot just like a child who was told that he couldn't have candy before heaving a huge sigh and looking back up at Optimus then up to the ceiling, clicking and whirling.

"Teletraan acknowledges Communication Officer Designation Blaster's command. Uploading the video feed now." 

One of Ratchet's computers flickered on and a news report came on the screen. There was a red flag on the screen, stating that it was some big news. It was somewhere in California in Fort Bragg, at a Construction site. And it looked pretty big with police cars and ambulances and a large group of people watching what was going on as medics and coroners were loading black bags into large black vans.

"There is no word from the police of what exactly happened on this construction site, but it is believed that a freak accident had occurred, ending the lives of nearly thirty construction workers. It is believed that there may have been some kind of explosion during a 3.1 Earthquake from Tuesday night. It has been reported that many of Fort Bragg's civilians felt the minor earthquake but no one could explain what happened at the Browns Brothers Construction site, where they were building a new apartment complex." The female reporter stated before turned and the camera caught a shot of the coroners putting the body bags into the van. It was no doubt that there had been a massacre at the construction site and sitting off to the side was a massive dump truck; the Liebherr T 282B dump truck, which made some of the Autobots and humans freeze as they watched the news report.

"There is no way of knowing what happened to all thirty construction workers but there have been sources saying that whatever happened to them, it was either a freak accident or something more than that. Investigations will be continuing to find out exactly what happened in this construction site. Meanwhile, there has a rumor stating that not long after the minor earthquake, the one to discover this terrible scene was a young man stating that he had heard screams of the construction workers and came to investigate, finding this terrible tragedy. We have not been able to question him on the matter." 

"Uh, okay. Bad, bad human news report. So why is Blaster freaking out about that?" Hound asked frowning as he looked around at everyone.

"It's probably due to the fact that the young man that came across that tragedy," Someone on Keller's end of the line began to explain. "He claimed that he saw a massive looking robot climb out of the ocean and transform into that giant truck you just seen in the background. We just got the news our selves and that's what we've been discussing." 

Everyone in Ratchet's med lab froze with alarm and shock while Blaster was bobbing his head up and down so fast that it was nearly a blur. He began whirling and clicking in Cybertronian to Optimus, who stepped back almost taken back. And he wasn't the only one. The other Autobots looked just as stunned.

"What? What did he say?" Maggie asked, looking around with wide eyes.

The Autobots looked around at one another before Optimus turned to Hound, giving him a nod. "He's confirming that it was the TK 20 Typhoon submarine was what transformed into that giant vehicle. It looks like we just found out what happened to your submarine, my friends." He turned his attention onto the communications system and shook his head. "Secretary Keller, I called you to give you an update on the situation and it seems to me that you also updated us. But I fear that it is a little more serious than we had hoped. We have found the young human girl, Anastasia Karpos that you have been looking for." He ignored a few shouts through the line and he was sure Keller was too because he hadn't said anything. "She is safe and alive, here, for now. She was currently with our ally, Jetfire, whom I have explained to you about. According to him, some of our enemy Decepticons was after her as well, with the information on the TK 20 Typhoon. We have observed that information and found out that our situation is getting worst." He looked over at Hound. "Hound, if you will." He stated.

Hound nodded before lifting his hand and tapping at his Autobot insignia on his chest, activating the video feed and the sound system. "The video that Miss Anya's father sent to her is very unstable and the video feed has been destroyed but we still can access the sounds. This is what he had to say to her." He remarked before playing the sound feed.

"This is a symbol that I, Vladimir Karpos, have found on the SSBN TK-20 Typhoon Submarine. I do not know where this insignia has come from but it was not on here before. I believe it may be tied to the alien robots that the Americans are claiming that is on our planet. I do not know! But the submarine may be one of the giant robots! It is diving deep into the Kara Sea on its own accord! We are trying to stop it but it will not respond! The symbol I have found is a robotic face and it is orange...!"

There was a crash in the background and it sounded like Vladimir Karpos was hyperventilating. The Autobots and Maggie could only imagine what the UN might be thinking or how they were taking this entire situation.

"Anya, I send this message to you! If anything happen to me, I love you and your sister and your mother. Know that I will always be with you. But if the Typhoon is a robot alien, you must tell the Americans. My own comrades wouldn't believe me and you, so I know our Government will not. You must alert the Americans!" And then it ended.

There was sudden burst of shouts through Keller's line and it sounded like the Russians weren't too happy by what Vladimir had said but they were being ignored, obviously. "Optimus, what symbol was he talking about? Did you see it?" Keller asked, cutting off everyone's outbursts.

With a long sigh, Optimus glanced over at Hound, who nodded as if he already got the idea of what his noble Leader wanted him to do. The IT turned towards Ratchet's computer screen and typed at it. "Secretary Keller and the UN, I'm up linking our computer, Teletraan, with yours now. That way, what we see through him, you will." He looked upward. "Teletraan, connect with the UN sub computers and project Unicron's symbol so that they can see it."

"Teletraan acknowledges. Uploading link with United Nations computers and projecting Unicron's symbol now." 

There were some startled cries on the other end, proving that whatever Teletraan did worked for it just surprised the humans. But either way, on Ratchet's computer, the Autobots and the humans were looking at the robotic orange insignia that had been on Anya Karpos' computer.

"Optimus Prime," Keller asked, obviously frowning at the symbol. "What exactly is this? Another form of the Decepticons' signature?" 

Again, Optimus sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Secretary Keller. I'm afraid that this symbol belongs to someone much worst." He paused for a moment before going over to the computer, which Hound backed away. He messed with it a little before an image of a nasty looking Cybertronian appeared onto the screen. The sounds of breaths catching obviously told them that the UN was now looking at the Chaos Bringer. "His name is Unicron and he is the most ancient of our kind. Or at least he was until his rumored demise nearly seven hundred years ago, if not a little more. He was the Second first created Cybertronian, created along with the First, Primus. Although the historical documents about Primus' and Unicron's creation were lost throughout time, it is said that they were created by an entity we know not about. I suppose that entity could be what you would call God in religious beliefs. I do not know most of the history of our own kind because it was lost with the All Spark when it was destroyed several months ago." He explained rather gravely. "All I can tell you is that until about a thousand years ago, Unicron was believed to only be a fragment of history. A Boogie man as you may call him. He was believed to be only stories to keep Sparklings of Cybertron in line into behaving. I cannot explain it completely but maybe Jetfire can." He then looked to the Legendary Seeker.

"Jetfire?" Someone, perhaps one of the Asians asked.

Optimus continued to look at Jetfire, almost asking him to start, whom hesitated for only a moment before stepping forward and leaning against the large table where Anya was sleeping. "My name is Jetfire, and I am the oldest Cybertronian alive, so far." He began. "I am known as a Legend on Cybertron, just as Unicron was, and I am sorry to tell you that I was created by his prodigy, whom was just as lost as Old Unicron is. As it is, all I can tell yeh'll, Unicron is not something your world is ready to know about. But seeing that we really don't have much of a choice at this time." He paused for a moment to think about his words carefully before clearing his voice processor again. "As it says in the old legends, Unicron was banished from Cybertron by his own twin brother, Primus, for trying to devour the worlds they tried to create. He devoured many stars and planets, gaining their Energon for power. The more he destroyed and ate up, the more powerful he became. He only lusted for the power, wanting more and more, and not even caring if there were life on those planets." He shook his head. "In fact, he preferred the worlds and stars to have life. For if there was life, there were more Energon and more power. Primus, bless him, realized that Unicron was only trying to gain power for his own greed and uses so he battled and weakened him, then banished him into the darkest reaches of Space where there was no life or Energon at all. Primus didn't want to do it, but it was to protect other worlds and their lives. For they were created to create life, not destroy it."

"And what about him now?" Someone asked, probably the British Prime Minister.

"Unicron was only believed to be a horror story to keep Sparklings in line." Jetfire explained, his tone very grave. "It was up until Primus decided that he had created enough Cybertronians on Cyberton for life to prevail without him before he simply went into stasis lock. No one knows where Primus is but he is gone, his entity only watching over our kind and those we mingle with. Which, probably means he's watching over you, humans, too. After Primus went into eternal recharge, Unicron's creations, simply Minicons began to appear. They are also known as Extensions, Cybertronians that Unicron has created to serve as his eyes and do his bidding while he remains in the dark reaches of Space."

"Which, Secretary Keller, we do have one of Unicron's Extensions in our custody. The one we have warned you about, Scourge. He is the Master of the Pretenders and Sweeps, Decepticons who can take the forms of humans, if they like. He was Pretending to be the Russian Agent, Domovoi Korbacs, trying to trick our new friend, Anya Karpos." Optimus reported. "We don't know what he had been planning on doing with her, but the only guesses we can make is that perhaps she was of use to the Decepticons. With your permission and the Russian Government, we wish to keep her here, in our custody where she can be safe."

That obviously didn't sit too well with the Russians because shouts began picking up again. They didn't like the idea of one of their own people having to stay with the alien robots when they could have questioned her, their selves. Somehow, Keller shut them up and made them agree in about ten minutes while listening to the arguments. The Autobots really didn't listen to it too much but glance at one another. They weren't too impressed at the moment. They had a little bit of a crisis going on and all the humans could do was argue.

"Optimus Prime, exactly where are you going with this?" The German Leader asked finally once everyone calmed down a little.

"The Typhoon Submarine," Optimus began carefully. "He was believed to be one of our own, a Cybertronian. Either Autobot or Decepticon. But he's not. He is one of Unicron's Extensions, a Minicon, who is an enemy of both Autobots and Decepticons. And we believe as you do, that he has taken the form of the Liebherr vehicle. Where his destination, we don't know. But I will program Teletraan to track him. It's not going to be easy though. Our Teletraan has never been able to keep track of the Minicons. But we believe his Designation, his name, is Cataclysm, whom Jetfire learned the identity from the Decepticon, Starscream."

"Tell us about him, Optimus? Do you know anything about this...Cataclysm? How big is his threat level?" Keller asked, almost just as grave as he was.

There was another sigh as Optimus glanced around at his Autobots and even at the former Decepticon before looking back at the image of Unicron. "His threat level is higher than any of the Decepticons you know about, Mr. Secretary. He is a Unicron's Extension and that's not good on its own. I have never crossed battles with Cataclysm, and I don't think any one of my Autobots has, but Jetfire..." He once again paused glancing over at the Seeker.

"Cataclysm is a pretty nasty piece of work, humans." Jetfire said, still looking down at Anya. "He's not only very big, but he's very brutal in battle, very powerful and he has a habit of letting his enemies think they are winning their fight before he lashes out and strikes them down. But in truth, from what I have seen from him before is he does have a very strong streak of pride. So if there is any way of taking Cataclysm down, we'd have to strike at his pride, driving him to become unfocused in the battle. But, the one problem with that is that once he becomes unfocused, he can be even nastier. He strikes out at everything without a care of what he destroys. So if we go up against him, we need to move fast and very hard." He turned his red glaring optics over onto Optimus, frowning. "The one problem with that, too, is the only ones that ever manage to take down that Son of a Glitch are Seekers. And I'm the only Seeker among the Autobot Ranks right now."

"Meaning...we would need help from the Decepticon, Starscream, then." Keller said, very grave. They knew how that was going to go. That was definitely not an option.

"I think...I know a way of finding out of where to find him."

Everyone went very quiet when they heard that remark before Optimus and the rest of the Autobots quickly turned and looked to see Spitfire and Bumblebee both lingering in the doorway, peering in at everyone. They, obviously, had been listening and didn't like a word of it. It had been Spitfire who spoke. She kept her head dipped down low but she kept glancing up at Optimus, almost shamefully.

"Spitfire," The Autobot Leader spoke up, his voice a little soft before he motioned her forward. "You said...?" He paused, frowning.

Taking a deep breath, Spitfire let go of Bumblebee's wrist and stepped into the room, looking up at Optimus, trying to look brave though it wasn't completely working. She glanced around, noting that the twins were looking kind of hard at her but they didn't look as pissed as they had before when they first found out about her. "I think I know a way of how to get in contact with Starscream. Or find out where the Decepticons are hiding their base. But you're not going to like it though." She told Optimus.

 

And she had been right; they didn't like it.

 

Everyone was outside; Autobots and humans. They had moved a fair distance away from the Autobot Base in the Hoover Dam, though it was pointless to pretend that wasn't where they were keeping their ranks. The Decepticons already knew where it was. Hound had set up a vid screen because the UN wanted to see what would happen, though Spitfire had been a little uneasy about that too.

At the moment, Spitfire didn't explain what exactly she had in mind of what to do. All she had said was that she needed to get into contact with someone whom owed her a BIG favor. And everyone guessed that whom she was talking about had to be a Decepticon. They were almost afraid to ask which one.

With Mirage, Hot Rod and even Ironhide nearly glaring at her back, Spitfire radioed in to someone through her link before looking towards the highway leading up to the dam. Now they had to wait for her Decepticon to show up.

"Okay, so what are we doing?" Glenn asked, leaning towards Reno, who took the liberty of just leaning up against Optimus, who didn't seem to mind at all.

Reno merely shrugged before glancing over at his teenage niece, just as questionably. His eyes flickered over to Sam, next, who was looking up at Bumblebee. The Scout was watching Spitfire carefully too, but unlike some of the others, who were all uneasy about the entire situation, he had a look of pure trust. He was not going to doubt his former best friend with whatever she had planned. "Have no idea, Glenn. Something about making a deal with a Decepticon or something." Reno finally spoke up before looking forward.

Finally, something caught everyone's eyes. Someone or something was coming. They couldn't see it very well but as soon as the Decepticon rounded a corner on the road to the Dam, the Autobots picked up his signal.

"Aw, Slag." Sideswipe groaned as he shielded his optics from the sun like everyone else before finally noticing who it was. "It just had to be him, didn't it?"

All Autobots and humans grew tense as they watched the black and white Saleen mustang police cruiser come speeding down the road towards them, whirling his lights just so that he could get there faster. But either way, no one was happy to see Barricade.

Even Bumblebee had to ground his engine a little as he moved forward to stand right by Spitfire, surprising her for a moment before looking at her. He gave her a questioning look but the femme could only shrug innocently before putting on a very serious look on her metallic face, eyeing the Decepticon sternly as he stopped nearly half a mile away from the Autobots. "Optimus Prime," The femme spoke before glancing over her shoulder at the tall Leader. "He's going to be very uneasy because there's so many of us. If you don't mind, I better talk to him alone. I'll keep open channels so that you can hear us talking but whatever you do," She zeroed her gaze onto Ironhide and Mirage, who looked like they wanted nothing better than to just shoot the Police cruiser. "Don't fire on him. If you do, you're going to regret it."

"Is that a threat...?" Mirage started to growl at him but he stopped when Optimus quickly held up a hand towards him.

The Autobot Leader looked directly into Spitfire's optics, frowning but he gave a light nod. He didn't like it, nor supported the idea of Spitfire going over to talk to Barricade by herself. He knew very well how vicious the Decepticon could be. Everyone did. That Decepticon was one that they did not like fighting with. He was strong, vicious in battle and he could take care of himself very well.

"What is he doing alive, anyway? I thought he was taken out..." Sunstreaker grumbled, still glaring across the desert floor at the mustang just sitting there.

"Wait a second..." Sam spoke up frowning as he remembered something. "Mikaela and I saw him on the highway when we were escaping with the Cube to Mission City but he was the one who tried to take Reno in the first place. How did..."

It all started to dawn on anyone who had been in the city during that terrible battle. They all remembered that they had seen Barricade but he had not been in the fight within the city. Even Optimus had to look over at Spitfire, who dipped her head down, almost amused. Somehow, he got the idea that she might have had something to do with that. "Spitfire?"

Slowly, Spitfire dipped her head into a nod before she turned around and looked at the four Autobots who had been at Mission City during that fight. Her gaze paused onto Bumblebee, almost amused by what she was processing. "That's right. I had something to do with Barricade's absence during the Mission City battles. In truth, Barricade was going to help Bonecrusher fight Optimus, help gang up on him. But..." She almost grinned as she shrugged. "I plowed into him, knocking him right off the high roads, stopping him from joining the fight." She turned back around and gave the Saleen a very serious look, but it was obvious that she would have been smiling slyly. "Barricade owes me a favor because I didn't kill him. Plus, at the time, I had one Starscream's little devices. It was our plan when I was with them at the time. Starscream built a second device just like the one that's in me. We planned on attaching it to Megatron, some how. And Starscream would have activated the explosive device, offlining him." She explained.

Everyone just stared wide eyed or with wide optics at her before Hot Rod narrowed his optics at her, almost suspiciously, just like Mirage was doing. "And you didn't tell us about that because..." He trailed off.

Spitfire merely shrugged before looking at Optimus. "I guess I just didn't think about it until while I was talking to Bumblebee." She drew out a low sigh. "I was trying to come up with an idea of how to make it up to you, sir, for what...for what happened to Elita One. I know I could never, ever do anything that..." Her voice failed a little as she looked away almost painfully. "I'm really sorry for what happened to her and Red Alert and...everyone. I think blackmailing Barricade into giving us location to the Decepticon Base might help a little. Though, I don't know how much it will do." She said, her voice still very low.

Watching her for only a moment, Optimus then shook his head as he reached down and lightly placed his hand onto her head, surprising her for a moment before he lift his optics and looked over at the approaching police cruiser. His actions not only surprised Spitfire but everyone else. They hadn't been expecting it. Bumblebee, Jetfire and even Ratchet were the only ones to smile faintly, along with Sam, Mikaela, Trent, Elena and even Reno. The others were slow to follow as they started to understand that Spitfire might have done a very terrible deed all those years ago, but Optimus was willing to forgive her. Sooner or later, the others would have to do it too.

"Here he comes." Jetfire said, now starting to put up his guard, along with the other Autobots. They knew very well how tricky Barricade could be. But all they could do was watch carefully as Spitfire turned back away from Optimus Prime and started to take a few steps towards Barricade, who finally transformed into his bipedal form and started glaring at her, impatiently.

"It's about Fragging time!" snarled Barricade as Spitfire approached him. He was still eyeing the group of Autobots sourly before looking back at the femme, who was watching him stonily. "You didn't say that you were meeting me with raiding party."

Spitfire just stared directly at the Decepticon, shaking her head. "They have a right to know what I'm up to, Barricade." She said dryly. "But don't worry you're ugly little tin can of a head." She ignored him when he growled threateningly at her but didn't move to attack. "It's time you did my little favor now."

Barricade narrowed his glaring red optics at her before straightening up. "What the slag do you want now, glitch?! And when are you going to deactivate this thing?!" He demanded, slapping his chest plate hard, causing a loud metallic echo in the canyon.

Innocently shrugging, Spitfire placed her metal hand onto her hip and shifted her weight. "When I do. Now, enough with the pleasant talk." She ignored him when he snorted loudly at her dry humor. "You heard about Cataclysm, didn't you? That he's here?" She asked, getting right down to it.

"Yes." growled the Decepticon, balling up his claws into a fist. He wanted nothing more to just throw it back and slug this Autobot femme. But he also knew what would happen if he did that. Not only would the Autobots jump forward and start kicking his aft, she would activate that ridiculous device that Starscream built. Primus, he hated that Seeker even more than ever. "We don't know where he is though. All we know is that contacted Starscream some time after that human insect, Ladiesman217, Sam Witwicky destroyed Megatron with the All Spark. You should have seen the Seeker's face." He sneered.

Spitfire kept a dry look on her own face, knowing exactly how Starscream must have looked when he found out about Cataclysm. He had never liked Cataclysm and he was probably scared of him, and rightfully so. "What does he want? Why is he here?" She asked, keeping up her very stern mode.

Barricade growled but shook his head. "Said something about reviving Unicron." He sneered when Spitfire stiffened. "You really think that the Minicons would let you get away with that, Spitspot? You betrayed Unicron when you decided that you didn't want to help them destroy the Autobots! And you know very well what happens to traitors when Unicron or his Mini-me's get a hold of a traitor! The punishment isn't like ours! You don't get offlined! You get reprogrammed!" He nearly snarled at her, though seeming to enjoy it.

"He's not coming back, Barricade." Spitfire said, icily before she raised her arm and opened a hatch, causing the Decepticon to stiffen, himself. She snorted as she kept it raised, nodding to him. "How does Cataclysm plan on reviving Unicron, anyway? The All Spark was destroyed. It's not like it can bring him back."

Growling, the Decepticon rolled his optics before turning slightly away, still watching her carefully. He wasn't going to put down his guard with her around. "The All Spark shard is enough to jump start him, femme. One little jolt and then he's awake."

Again, Spitfire stiffened as she looked directly into his glaring red optics, slowly shaking her head. "The Shard? What shard?" She asked.

Sneering, Barricade nodded behind her. "The one that the Prime is keeping. What, the Autobots didn't tell you that they had it? Go figure. You did betray them, after all." His expression darkened again. "So when you gonna tell the Prime that you have his Matrix of Leadership on you?" He said, almost tauntingly and he almost barked a laugh when Spitfire grew very still or when he heard shouts of surprise from where the Autobots were standing. "Heh, secrets against secrets. Some Autobots you lot are." He shook his head, growing serious again. "Any more questions you want to ask?" He asked darkly.

Breathing deeply, Spitfire decided not to turn and look over her shoulder at the other Autobots, knowing very well that most of them were glaring at her now for that bit of news of her having the Matrix of Leadership. "A few more. You do know that we have Scourge, right? What's Starscream intending to do about that?"

"Who fragging cares about that son of a glitch?!" Barricade growled at her, optics narrowing. "If you Autobots are smart, which we know you aren't, you'll kill him now before something happens! You know very well how deceitful he is, femme! I know about how you decided to turn your back on Starscream! Sideways went bragging to me about it! You really think that Starscream would have killed you when you were still useful to him." He nodded sharply when Spitfire looked at him surprise. "From what I've heard, that son of a glitch Seeker wasn't planning on killing you for a long time! You were played by Sideways and Scourge, dumbaft! Every one of the Decepticons knew that! It was Scourge's plan all along to play you against Starscream! Just so that you would reveal the whereabouts of the Matrix of Leadership! It's another way of reviving Unicron!" He snarled at her.

Spitfire just stood there, almost bewildered for a moment before she grew serious again. "Well, they won't get it. It's safe and I will tell Optimus Prime where it is when I need to." She told him.

Shaking his head, Barricade wanted to laugh harshly at her as he already took a step back away from her. "Don't you get it, you stupid femme?" His words took her back a little, making her frown at him. "Unicron already knows where it is. He just needs your fragging password to get to it!" He snapped.

Narrowing her optics, Spitfire took in his words carefully. To even think about Unicron coming after her for the Matrix, it was enough to shake her metal frame. She was going to have be very careful with that piece of the situation. But for now, to the matter at hand. She looked back at Barricade. "Barricade, I will deactivate the explosive but you have to answer my final question. Where is the Decepticon Base?"

A nasty snarl escaped from the Decepticon as he listened to her before slowly shaking his head as he glared at her. "I may be a Decepticon and I'd rather die than serve under Starscream's command but if you think I'm going to betray them, you got another thing coming." He growled in a vicious tone. He even started to step forward as if to fight her.

With a frown, Spitfire watched as he took a few threatening steps towards her before she shook her head. "Forgive me, Optimus Prime, Sir and don't intervene." She merely said, sending it through her channel before she quickly raised her arm and activated the device she had planted in Barricade. She knew very well what kind of pain he went through the very second it kicked in and caused him to let out a piercing, metallic screech before falling down to his knees. She knew very well that some of the Autobots might have stepped forward as if to rush over to them. But she didn't look over her shoulder to see Jetfire stopping any who tried. She just stepped towards Barricade, watching as his body frame rocked violently from the electric jolts flowing through him from Starscream's device, rendering him nearly motionless. "One thing I learned from you, Decepticons, is that you are extremely pigheaded. That and the fact that if you want information, you've got to cause pain to get it." She told him rather coldly.

"What the frag is she doing?!" Ironhide growled as he watched, along with the others. Like them, he couldn't believe she was actually doing that.

"She's doing what she must do." Jetfire said as he kept a tight hold onto his and Mirage's shoulder plates. "Like it or not, Autobot or not, we need that information that Barricade has if we want to deal with Cataclysm. This way might not be the way you, Bots, usually do it, but it's the only way to get that fragging pitspawn to talk."

Optimus didn't like it any more than the others didn't but he trusted Jetfire's words. It wasn't what he would have done. But this was Spitfire's contact. So he would let her do her way. Even if he didn't like it.

Deactivating the device again, Spitfire stood over Barricade, frowning down at him with her claws on her hips. "Now, Barricade, let's try this again. I will take that thing off if you just tell me where to find Starscream! This is not about destroying Decepticons right now! This is about destroying Cataclysm before he gets the Matrix of Leadership or the All Spark Shard and uses it to revive Unicron! Your miserable, deceiving life is as much at stake as ours! And I'm going to repeat your words! Do you think that the Minicons would let you get away from betraying them like that?!" She almost smirked coldly when Barricade looked up at her, almost alarmed. "The Decepticons betrayed him just as I did. Megatron betrayed him as much as I did. He would not let him absorb him as I wouldn't! I know very well that is what he's after! He is after Megatron, not ME!"

"What the frag are...?!" Barricade was asking but he was cut off by the femme as she lashed out and grabbed him by the front of his armor, raising him up a little. "Get your traitorous...!"

"The only ones who have the power to truly destroy Unicron is either Primus, himself, the Prime or Megatron!" Spitfire told him fiercely. "Now tell me where can I find Starscream or I will turn that thing on and leave it on until you go into stasis lock! Ratchet'll probably kick my aft for it because he's a medic, but in this case it will be worth it!"

Barricade narrowed his optics at her before shaking his head. "But you're an Autobot! You wouldn't do that!" He snarled at her.

"No, Barricade. I'm an Autobot who is completely troubled." Spitfire told him, dangerously. "Now, keep trying my patience and see what happens."

Moments later, the Saleen Mustang police cruiser was speeding away and Spitfire was walking back towards the very tense Autobots and a smirking Jetfire, who greeted her pretty much warmly. He was almost proud of her methods of getting someone like Barricade to talk. "Well, I see you're getting better at interrogation skills, Spitfire."

Spitfire's only reply was a shrug before she turned towards Optimus, who did have a sort of disapproving look on his face. She ignored it though, lifting her head a little higher. "Barricade didn't know the exact location of Starscream but the Decepticon Base is being built in Brazil, South America. And yes," She shot a glance towards Hot Rod when he started to open his mouth to say something. She had already gotten the idea of what he was going to ask. So she held up her and dropped the metal device she had finally taken off of Barricade. "I did deactivate Starscream's device, just like I said that I would."

"You should have just blown him sky high, Spitfire. Now you're going to have to watch your back every time we end up fighting the Decepticons." Sideswipe remarked, folding his arm.

Spitfire merely glanced over at the double blader before shaking her head and looking back up at Optimus. "A deal is a deal. I only put that thing on Barricade to keep him from fighting in Mission City and to ensure he didn't come after me. I spared his life then and I just spared his life again." She shrugged again, her optics softening only a little. "Barricade might be the back stabbing kind of Decepticon, but he also has a very strong sense of warrior pride. You don't know that because he's always been a Decepticon and you don't face him as much on the battle field. He won't attack me again until he saves my life at least once. That way, we'll be even and then he'll be free to attack me." She explained.

No one said anything for moment before Optimus nodded once at her. "There is one thing I must know, Spitfire." He started to say.

But the femme was ahead of him, smiling only a little. "I left it right where you left it, Sir. I didn't take the Matrix of Leadership." Her words surprised everyone, including Hot Rod and Bumblebee being the most. She ignored their looks though as she looked directly into Optimus' optics. "Elita One is still guarding it until you take it back. I only told Starscream that I had it so that he would come after me and not continue looking for it."

For a very long moment, no one spoke but stared at Spitfire in alarm. Hot Rod's jaw even fell a little as he pointed at her, shaking his head. "Bu-bu-but you said...you said...!" He was saying.

Turning with a sly smile on her face, Spitfire looked right at him. "I know what I said, Hot Rod. And it was true. But if I really did tell you where I had put it, what would that solve? It's still Cybertron. Starscream or any of the Decepticons aren't going to be go looking for it any time soon. They've got other things to worry about right now. Namely, reviving Megatron before Cataclysm does something they don't want him to do and about us. The Autobots. If Barricade does what I asked him to do, which was tell Starscream that I need to talk to him, then we might able to put this whole war on hold for a little while until we deal with Cataclysm and the other Extensions. Their goal is revive their master. We just have to make sure that they don't get the tools to do that."

"You know," Epps said, now grinning with Lennox and at any of the other human allies. "I'm starting to like her."

Elena giggled behind her hand and nodded as she hurried over and threw her arms around Spitfire's leg, giving her a hug. "See! I told you all that you would! Spitfire is very smart! She's just throwing a loop or several at the Decepticons. You guys only got pulled in a little."

There was a few chuckles, mainly Jetfire, who was shaking his head. "Well, tell you what? She's got it in the right mind of what to do." He stated, sharing a smile with the young femme.

"Hmm." Optimus hummed before turning slightly away and looking directly at Ironhide. "Ironhide, take Spitfire with you to the brig." He almost smiled slyly as he glanced over at Spitfire when she stiffened, as did Bumblebee and some of the humans. But he just shook his head. "Since she knows Scourge better than any of us, she can help you question him. It's time to find out about what is going on around here and find out where Unicron is hiding."

Almost in awe and gratitude, Spitfire straightened and smiled almost brightly up at him, as did Bumblebee.

"As for the rest of us," Keller finally spoke over the transmission, reminding all of them that the UN was still there and watching through their connections. "We will begin to plan an international operation to deal with this Cataclysm problem. Just locate him, Autobots and we will help you take him down." 

"What about Megatron?" Sam was the one to ask, pretty concerned about that little detail.

Optimus frowned, trying to think about what to do about that. He knew very well that if they brought Megatron back into the picture, he wasn't going to be very happy about the attempted alliance.

"What about him? He's dead, ain't he? There's no bringing him back to life. There is no way..." Simmons started to question.

Spitfire turned her head away and touched her chest plate, almost thoughtfully. She knew very well what he was going to ask. And she knew how to answer. "He can brought back to life." She interrupted Simmons, surprising all of them. "With the All Spark shard and the device that Starscream built. With the Energon it has been gathering from all of the years, all it's going to take is rebuilding Megatron and activating it. That is what Starscream is planning to do."

"But I thought that Starscream hated Megatron. Why would he..." Mikaela was asking.

Spitfire turned away, bending down just a little so that Elena could climb into her hand. "Because Starscream wants to kill Megatron himself. That's why he'd revive him." She merely said before glancing over at Ironhide. "Well, are we going to question the pitspawn or not?"

Ironhide only grunted before walking with her back to the base.


	21. Never Alone

The interrogation of Scourge did not go so well at all, due to the fact that he was a very tricky and cunning Decepticon and he knew very well how to play with the Autobots' feelings. He knew what to say or do that would set them off and he knew how to make them feel very uneasy. He was a cunning enemy that you needed a very strong will to not beat the Pit out of him when he pissed you off.

Both, Ironhide and Spitfire realized that while trying to talk to him.

The very minute they reached the brigg, they began asking him questions about Cataclysm and Unicron, but all Scourge did was just sit there and smirk at them both. He didn't even bother to say a word to them until Ironhide threatened to open the cell and beat the living bolts out of him. Only then did the cunning Decepticon start talking. He began taunting Ironhide, daring him to do it. He even began questioning the tough Autobot if he still had what it took to take down an enemy or if he had softened up a bit too much while being on Earth.

Those remarks were enough to send Ironhide slamming fists against the walls and yelling the most obscene Cybertonian words, causing Spitfire to wince a little while Scourge snickered to himself.

"Ironhide, just ignore him! He's just egging you on." Spitfire told him with a heaved sigh.

Scourge chuckled as he watched her with his fiery gaze, almost amused by her tries of calming down the Weapons Specialist. He knew exactly how to egg her on next. And he was so looking forward to seeing the look on her face. "I wonder what the bug would think," He spoke up, getting a very dry look from the femme next. But all he could do was smirk right at her. "I wonder what your old friend, the bug would say when I told him about how you used to get so cozy with Starscream back on Cybertron. So cozy that one would think..." He was saying.

Spitfire had stiffened as she looked at him in shock before shaking her head, almost frantically. "Shut up, Scourge." She hissed at him.

"...that you two were almost like sparkma..." Scourge continued without missing a beat.

"Shut up, Scourge!" Spitfire yelled at him as she lashed out and slammed a fist against the wall next to the Energon field, glaring hatefully at him, yet there was a hint of pain within her optics. She didn't even look at Ironhide, who was watching her with a very surprised look on his face. He wasn't even sure what to think about Scourge's words. "Don't you dare say another word about me and Starscream! We were friends! It was never like that between us! And I know that he would say the very same thing before ripping you apart!"

Scourge did not look worried at all. He just kept that cruel smirk on his face as he just dipped his head a little lower for more effect. It was almost enough to make Spitfire step back, feeling even more uneased. "Hmm. Perhaps. But wouldn't it be fun to tell your precious little bug otherwise? I wonder how he would look? Hurt? Angry? Disgusted? I could only imagine how he would take it. I'm looking forward to telling him that you almost became Starscream's spark..." He didn't really get to finish those words.

After those words, Spitfire almost snapped. She let out a scream of rage as she started forward, swinging a hand for the lock release. She wanted nothing more than to just cause Scourge a lot of pain right then and there. And she would have opened Energon field to shoot him too if Ironhide had not moved quickly to grab her and wrench her away from the cell. He gave the young femme a stern look for what she almost did but then shook his head as he looked back at Scourge, who was laughing as if it was the funniest thing that he had ever seen. "I think we better stop for now." The Weapon Specialist growled before pushing Spitfire towards the door. "Think very hard about what you just said, Scourge. Because if you say anything like that to me," He leaned closer to the Energon field, narrowing his optics dangerously. "Spitfire isn't going to be able to stop me from tearing you limb to limb. But don't worry, I won't deactivate you. You'll be functioning the entire time." He warned darkly before steering the femme out.

Scourge just watched them go, his optics dark with fury but he put a smirk on his face anyway. He was almost amused by what just happened. At least he knew what to say to put Spitfire on the edge. It was Ironhide he was going to have to worry about.

Outside the Brigg, neither one spoke as they just stood there, opposite from each other. Spitfire's head was dipped down and she looked rather ashamed for losing it like that. But there was one thing that made her worry. Slowly, she lift her optics up and met Ironhide's, as he was still watching her. "I-Ironhide," She began carefully. "About what Scourge said..."

"I ain't saying a word to Bumblebee about anything." Ironhide interrupted loudly, his arms folding across his chest. "You want him to know, you tell him. This has got nothing to do with me so I'm staying out of it."

Almost in awe and full of gratitude, Spitfire heaved a gentle relieved sigh before giving him a light smile. "Thank you." She told him, quietly.

There was a long moment's pause between the two before Ironhide tilted his head to the side, still watching Spitfire carefully. He knew he'd better be careful about what to say. He didn't want to really upset her more than she was already. But there was one question that was bugging him. "Got a question for you, Spitfire." He merely had to say.

Spitfire kept her optics adverted from him but she shook her head, as if already telling him no. She knew what he wanted to know. She had been expecting this question to pop up sooner or later. "Starscream and I are not even close to being sparkmates, Ironhide. We were friends but we never interfaced or made that connection. Scourge...what he said, it wasn't really true. We were really comfortable with each other's presense and that was what made some of the Decepticons think we were together." She shook her head finally looking at him. "But we weren't. There were a few times I was sure that Starscream...well, I was sure he wanted to because there aren't very many femmes left and spark born Cybers are very strong and probably a little more stronger than All Spark born Cybers. But you already know that. There was really only one thing that held us back." She told him quietly.

"Yeah? What was that? You were an Autobot and he was a Decepticon?" Ironhide asked, almost smirking at her.

For the first time in a little while, the young femme laughed with the Weapons Specialist but shook her head as she looked up at him. "No. You would think that was it, but it wasn't." She let out a light sigh as she folded her hands together and looked down at the ground. "What stopped Starscream and I from even making that kind of connection was the fact...he wasn't Bumblebee." She smiled faintly when she caught a glimpse of the somewhat surprised look on Ironhide's face. "Starscream knew that my spark...would never belong to him. I think it made him really angry but...he never said or did anything about it. Surprisingly, he just kept quiet about it.

The only reply to that was a grunt from Ironhide as he looked away from her.

Spitfire then perked up a little and smiled as she looked up at him. "Anyway, enough about that. It's not like you don't have to worry about stuff like that." She smiled slyly when Ironhide stiffened, looking wildly at her as if she was crazy. "Do you miss her?" She asked, smugly.

Ironhide growled as he looked away again. "Don't even go there, Spitfire." He growled at her, earning a gentle giggle from the young femme. He tried to ignore her but then thinking about HER made him soften a little. "Yeah. I miss her. Even if she keeps shooting me when we fight." He said, rather sourly at the thought about it, though it was mostly just forced. He actually didn't mind getting shot by that particular femme.

"Hmmm." Spitfire hummed with amusement as she folded her arms. "Don't worry, Ironhide. Chromia will be here soon enough. I know she will. I can feel it." She raised a metal platted eyebrow at him as she shifted her weight. "I don't suppose you told everyone about her yet, have you? I can tell by every time that Arcee keeps flirting with you. She's always been the minxy kind, flirting with sparked mechs."

A bark of laughter erupted into the room as Ironhide grinned over at her. "Arcee is only doing it to make sure that other femmes don't think about me in that way. Not like she needs to. Chromia will kill me if I ever..." He cut himself off shuddering at the thought. "Besides, she's just trying to make Hot Rod jealous."

"Well, it's not like Hot Rod's dumb enough to pick a fight with you, Ironhide." Spitfire giggled, doubling over a little just to laugh. "I just want to know when are they going to stop flirting and fighting and just get on with it."

Grinning almost evilly, Ironhide folded his arms and leaned closer to the fiery red femme, almost looking as sly as a wolf. "Cliche, Spitfire. When are you going to get on with it with..." He was saying.

Wide eyed, Spitfire squeaked and clapped her hands over each side of her face, shaking her head violently. "Uh-uh! Don't you even think about finishing that sentence, Ironhide! It's not going to happen like that with Bumblebee! Not after what I..." She was saying quickly.

Rolling his optics, Ironhide was already making his way back towards the brigg. "Oh, shut up, Spitfire. The past is the past. The future is tomorrow. Just get over it already. The Prime has and I'm starting to. Just connect with Bumblebee already! It's driving me and Ratchet nuts and if Jazz were here, he'd start giving ya an processor full about how you two just need to get it over with!" He growled at her before waving his arm. "Come on! Let's finish this up! I don't wanna be hanging around this creepy aft all day long!"

However, Spitfire just stood there, almost stunned by his words. She was even starting to overload a little from the very thought of what he just said. She would have never guessed that those words could come out of Ironhide's mouth. Ironhide! Of all of the mechs of all of the Autobots, it had been Ironhide who told her to just get over her own betrayal and just move on! That was a lot to even process.

Her body hurt, and that was the first thing that she realized as she started to drift out of the darkness of unconsciousness. Her head was pounding like someone had smacked it so many times, creating a migrane at the very back. She knew that she should sleep longer but she really didn't want to. She had to know what was going on outside in the real world.

Ignoring the gentle groan, Anya's face scrunched up a little as she pushed herself further to waking up before she finally managed to flicker her eyes open. She flinched when she saw light right above her, cringing away from the offending energy source. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard someone start laughing, forcing her to wake up faster than she was ready for. Her eyes flashing open, she jerked her head to the side to spy the source of laughter only to have her head spin a little. "Oooh." She groaned closing her eyes again.

"You should not be waking up, Anya. Ratchet's going to have a fit if he sees your eyes open." came a very familiar voice.

Taking a moment to shake the dizziness off, Anya let her eyes flicker open again and she turned her head to see a very familiar face hovering right over her. She had to blink a few times as she took in the face. She eyed those bright blue eyes and that sunny blonde hair, which was piled up on top of the girl's head and took in her pretty face before it hit her. A sharp breath caught in Anya's chest as the name came too quickly for her. "Ma-Maggie!" She squeaked, grimacing when her voice failed on her.

Maggie just smiled down at her friend, lightly pulling dirty blonde strands off of her face before nodding. "Hey, Anya. Long time, no see. 'course, that's kind of my fault. My new job has been keeping me really busy." She said with a shrug.

Groaning, Anya reached up and ran her fingers through her blonde hair, closing her eyes for a moment. She was trying to sort out all of her thoughts, trying to remember exactly what happened. Where was she? What happened to make her feel like this? Where was Jetfire...? Her eyes snapped wide open again before she looked wildly around, almost panicking. She ignored the sudden protests from Maggie as she forced herself to sit up a little, looking around the somewhat very large and darkened room. "Wh-what...? Where are we? Where's Jetfire? What happened?" She asked frantically.

"Hey! Take it slow or Ratchet will tie you down to the bed! And he will too! He's done it before!" Maggie protested, placing a hand onto Anya's shoulder and trying to get her to lie back down. "Your new friend is just in the other room with the spoken medic, probably being tortured...I'm kidding!" She quickly said when Anya gasped at the word. "He's getting all of the dents knocked out and getting a systematics check up!"

Anya just laid there for a moment, taking in all of her thoughts and memories before she looked up at Maggie, almost confused. "What are you doing here, Maggie? I...I didn't..." She was saying.

Maggie shook her head as she sat back down on the stool next to Anya's bed, shrugging at the same time. "I'm a hacker, remember? The American Government's given me a job to analyze the computer network and keep an eye out for any security breeches that deals with the Cybertronians." She almost laughed when Anya looked confused. "The alien robots. Jetfire's people, remember? Anyway, we are at the Autobots' base, the good robots' base. Jetfire brought you here when you two were attacked by the Decepticons. It's a good thing too because you were not doing so good. You have a concussion and you are bruised to hell. Jetfire explained to all of us what happened to you." She told her Russian friend.

Listening carefully, Anya slowly took it all in. She looked very thoughtful but even Maggie could see the trouble in her eyes. But once she was done speaking, the young Russian frowned at the other blonde, slowly shaking her head. "Maggie, how long have you known about them?" She asked quietly.

And for a very long moment, Maggie didn't say anything. She was already getting the idea that her friend was getting a little upset about it. But with a sigh, she knew she had to tell her. "Since before the attack on Mission City, Anya." She bit her lip, somewhat ashamed when she saw Anya's eyes wince, looking hurt. "Anya, I couldn't tell you! I would have if I could, but it was a national security situation. I could have gone to prison for the rest of my..."

"My father," Anya said, thickly as she eyed the Aussie IT sternly. "My father is with one of the bad ones, Maggie. He has been captured by the one who is posing as the Typhoon submarine. I was the last one to even speak to him. Not my mum, not Ella. Me. They didn't even know what happened to him. They didn't even believe me when I told that he was in trouble." Her tone was growing a little darker as she continued on, not happy one bit. And Maggie knew that. "What if he dies, Maggie? What am I suppose to do then?"

Her eyes starting to sting and shimmer from tears, Maggie shook her head, letting her blonde hair bounce off her neck as she reached for Anya's hand. "Anya, we're going to do everything we can to find him. I swear..." She was saying.

However, Anya pulled her hand sharply away, scooting a little farther away from her. She had tears already starting to stream down her cheeks as she eyed her Aussie friend darkly. "Maggie, if my father dies, I will never forgive you for this! You should have at least warned me!" She raised her voice. She almost jumped out of her skin when a massive door off to the side slid open, revealing Jetfire and the lime green Autobot, Ratchet. She tensed up a little when she saw him but was more relieved to see the Seeker.

"Anya, I swear! I will do everything I can to find him!" Maggie cried, tears sliding down her cheeks as she folded her hands together in front of her mouth.

Anya did not reply but just eyed Ratchet uneasily before she turned onto her face, back facing Maggie. "You still should have told me, Maggie, about them. Then maybe I wouldn't have made myself out as a fool regarding Domovoi." She said somewhat bitterly. She curled up into a ball, ignoring Jetfire now as he moved closer to her, looking very concerned. "But then again, I've always been that kind."

Maggie frowned sternly at Anya before she grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back to look at her. "Don't you dare talk like that, Anya! You are anything but a fool! You are smart, beautiful and talented! There was no way that you could have known who that Domovoi guy was! Even Jetfire said that he could barely sense that it was Scourge! He's a Pretender! They are really hard to detect!" She shook her head when Anya started to pull away but she held fast. "Anya, I couldn't tell you! It was a national secret. No one here could say anything to anyone. If I could, I would have." She told her finally reaching up and wiping her cheeks.

For a long moment, both blondes looked hard at one another, almost trying to stare down one or the other. Neither one were happy, that was for sure. But as they continued to glower at one another, neither one looked up when Ratchet, Jetfire and Hound came into the medbay; all three stopping abruptly when they saw the two young women.

"Uh...whoa. Maybe we should come back in a few more minutes." Hound remarked, grimacing.

Ratchet, however, ignored that remark completely as he hurried towards the table, frowning sternly at Anya. "Young lady, you should not be awake yet! You are still very exhausted and injured!" He scolded her before stopping when Anya finally looked up at him and cringed.

Jetfire sighed as he moved forward and clapped a hand onto the Medic's shoulder, lightly pulling him back and ignoring the look for it. "Ratchet, give her a minute before you start being a grouch to her." He told him, still ignoring the look he got for it. He looked back at Anya, who was eyeing Ratchet uneasily. "Anya, it's all right. Remember what I said about him?"

Anya glanced uneasily up at him for a moment before shuddering and closing her eyes as she covered her face with her hands. "I know, I know. I'm...I'm just..." She sighed before running her hands through her hair. "I'm just really confused right now. My head feels like its spinning and..." She couldn't even stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, youngling. Don't you be doing that. You're going to upset me next." Jetfire spoke softly to her as he cupped his hand around her medic bed and leaned over her. He lightly chuckled when the young Russian huffed and smiled.

"Wow. I think Sides might be a little right about you, Jet." Hound said, laughing quietly. "You are turning into a Gran...Uh! Never mind!" He quickly added when Jetfire shot him a very dark and menacing look.

Everyone in the medic bay started to laugh at the exchange between Autobot and Decepticon. It could not be helped at all for them to not to. Even Anya had to share a laugh as she watched her jet protector glare at the Autobot who had managed to hack into her computer. Her smile was gone as she remembered what he had done to her laptop and before anyone realized it, she sat up and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Hey! Lay back down! You're not ready to get up yet!" Ratchet immediately ordered when he did notice.

Surprisingly to everyone, Anya ignored him as she just stared at Hound. "You're the one...you were the one who looked at my laptop." She then frowned at him. "And tore it apart." She added, now sounding a little forlorn.

Hound frowned, cringing back a little. "Uh...I can repair it, if you'd like. But if it helps, I've stored all of your intell in my processor. As soon as I repair your laptop, I can download everything back on it." He said, sounding very sheepish. "And I swear, I didn't look at your video diaries. The World Wide Web says somewhere that it's very impolite to look at a femme's diary. I've seen some really scary videos dealing with what happens to a mech, or a guy for reading a girl's diary. I'd rather not get kicked in between the legs, which seems to hurt human males quite a lot." He said, rather speedily.

Again, everyone laughed, while Anya rolled her eyes at the IT's babbling. She glanced over at Maggie who was smirking up at the green Wrangler Jeep. "Some how I doubt Anya can kick up that high, Hound. Plus, I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to kick metal and break a leg." She said teasingly.

Sheepishly, the Autobot IT rubbed the back of his neck.

Jetfire chuckled before looking back down at Anya, gently placing a large finger against her shoulder and trying to coax her to lay back down. "So, how are you feeling?" He asked, quietly.

Anya allowed herself to be pushed back down but she placed her hand onto Jetfire's finger, shaking her head. "I'm...I'm actually feeling okay. I'm just a little tired and sore." She paused, looking away. "And feeling like an idiot that I actually let Domovoi trick me."

"Don't feel an idiot, Miss Anya Karpos." Ratchet said as he turned away and began digging through a rather large cabinnet through barrels sitting inside it. He looked at large labels on each before opening on and using a small claw to pluck something out. Turning back, he offered to very small pills to her, surprising her that he was that gentle to not crushing them. "Here is some pain killers. They might help with your sore muscles." He told her.

With a growing smile, Anya sat back up with Maggie and Jetfire's finger's help and took them. She nodded gratefully towards the medic before reaching for a sports bottle sitting next to her medic bed. "Thank you...um, Ratchet."

"Ah. I see our new friend is awake."

Anya jumped a little at the voice but relaxed when she saw that it was the red and blue Autobot she realized to be Optimus Prime. He was moving very carefully towards the medic bed with, surprisingly, Reno Banes and Trent DeMarco standing on his shoulder. They were both keeping their balance well. It still surprised everyone that they were there. But truth was, they were there to serve as moral support, just like Maggie was. Optimus had suggested that they went with him to talk to Anya Karpos, just to make it a little easier on her that there were other humans around. He didn't want to frighten her any more than she already was.

Carefully, the Autobot Leader offered both hands to the two and then lowered them onto the large medic table. "Hello, Anya Karpos. I am Optimus Prime, though you should probably already know that. How are you feeling?" He asked, gently.

The young Russian paused for a moment before she downed the pain killers and then looked back up at Optimus after swallowing the pills and water. "I...I'm feeling okay, I guess. Just...a little confused. Jetfire has told me everything about you. He's told me why you're here and what's sort of going on. But other than that..." She said shaking her head.

"Hm. I'm curious to know exactly how you met Jetfire." Optimus remarked, glancing to the Decepticon Seeker for the answer.

Jetfire shook his head and folded his large arms across his chest. "Already told ya, Optimus. Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps tried to kidnap her and I swooped down and scooped her up before she could be harmed." He merely glanced at Anya when she nodded to confirm that. "Other than that, your guess is as good as mine about why they wanted her. It could be her creator, her father being the reason. It was Anya who he tried to warn about Cataclysm. They were probably trying to stop her from warning us about him. That and if her father is anything like her, he's being stubborn. Question that we need to ask, what has Cataclysm done to him already?" He aksed.

Slowly the other Autobots nodded as they glanced around at each other. They didn't like it but there was a good chance that there might not be a Vladimir Karpos to rescue. "I'm still very surprised that we haven't found much about Cataclysm. He was always the kind to be very destructive to getting our attention. He's actually being quiet." Hound said, seriously.

"Do you think he might be trying to sneak up on you?" Reno asked as he stood next to Maggie, his arms folded over his chest. He didn't like any sound of this.

Optimus slowly nodded as he thought about it. He knew things were going to get a lot more serious than they already were. "If that is the case, then it will be wise to raise our security. Cataclysm is very brutal and he has no problem with destroying a city to get our attention. But on the other hand, he's also very stealthy. If he was trying to sneak up on our Base, he'll do it without raising any alarm. We will be attacked blindly if he wishes it so." He looked directly at Hound. "Hound, you're not the Security Chief like Red Alert was, or Prowl. But I will need you to try and get some security alarms up all around the Dam and the base for that matter. We must be prepared for the worst."

Hound merely nodded before he turned and hurried out of the medbay. He wasn't going to waste any more time after that order. He knew that they didn't have very much of it when dealing with Cataclysm.

Ratchet, however, was frowning deeply. "Optimus, this is getting way too serious. We not only have to worry about the Decepticons but now Cataclysm. And we don't even know how many Decepticons have arrived already to help Starscream." He told him.

"I know, Ratchet." sighed Optimus as he cupped his hand around his chin.

"The problem is not Starscream." Jetfire remarked, dryly. "He's just a bug waiting to be squashed compared to Cataclysm. I know for a fact that he's nervous right now. He attacked me and Anya openly because Cataclysm told him to. Now, you know as well as I do that Seekers are the only ones who stand a real good chance against Cataclysm. And if Starscream is afraid of him, then we're in a slag box."

"So that means..." Trent finally spoke up, looking between the large robots.

Optimus looked very grim in deed as the very thoughts ran through his processor. He knew what Jetfire was trying to imply and he really did not like it. He knew what the chances were between Cataclysm and his master. But to think that it might not be Cataclysm they were dealing with, it sent his entire metal frame cold. "It means we are in trouble." He simply stated before starting to turn to leave.

Anya sat up straighter. "Wait." She called, drawing back again when the large rig stopped and turned back. She bit her lip nervously before lowering her gaze. "What...what about my father?" She asked carefully.

No one answered for a moment but glanced around the room at one another. None of the Autobots really wanted to answer that question. They knew what the stakes might have been. But it was Jetfire who sighed and looked down at her. "Anya, we will do everything we can to find him and save him. But...there's a good chance..." He didn't want to finish that sentence.

The young Russian's face fell but she bobbed her head into a nod. She knew what he was trying to say. And she didn't think he would have said anything else other than there was a good chance that her father might have been dead. She just prayed that he was okay and that they would find him very soon. She just wanted to see him again before anything else happened. She wanted to make sure that she had something to tell her mother and sister if it came to that. She also knew that Jetfire's companions were doing all they could to find her father and save him. But if they couldn't save him...that was that. She just prayed that it wouldn't come to that.

It was right then the door whooshed open and Ironhide came waltzing in, startling Anya a little but he ignored her as he looked grumpily at Optimus when he turned to look at the Weapons Specialist.

"Ironhide, how did it go with the interrogation of Scourge?" The Autobot Leader asked, turning on his Leader mode.

Ironhide growled and narrowed his optics as he crossed his large arms over his equally large chest plate. He did not look happy, that was for certain. "Not good, Optimus. Had to stop Spitfire from killing the Pitspawn twice! He kept playing with her emotions, mentioning slag about her and Bumblebee and stuff. He doesn't dare playing with me, but he won't say anything either. He's just being annoying, like always." He growled before glancing down at the Anya, who backed down only a little. "Hey." He merely greeted her, waving a hand before replacing it back onto his other arm.

Anya, however, merely smiled in amusement as she watched him for a moment before looking up at Jetfire, who was still watching the Autobot Leader and the black GMC Topkick. Her smile faded only a little before she put on a determined look on her face. "Maybe...I can talk to him." She suddenly spoke up.

Everyone looked down at her, much to her discomfort. They all looked rather surprised at her suggestion and they certainly didn't like the idea. Especially Jetfire. He was already starting to growl and shake his head. "Anya, Sparkling, that ain't a good idea. After what he's done to you..." He was saying.

"I know." Anya quickly interrupted as she looked up at him. "I wouldn't want to talk to him after what he's done. But this is about finding out where my father is. And this Catactlysm guy. I'd rather find out if he's still alive or not than face my own personal feelings."

No one spoke for a long time as they considered the option. No one liked it. Even Maggie was shaking her head as she stared at her friend as if she had lost her mind. But after a moment, Optimus slowly nodded. "We will consider it. But not right at this moment. You are still in need of rest, Anya. I don't have to be a medic bot to see that you do. Once you are rested enough, we will consider on letting you speak with Scourge." He told her, before holding up a hand to Jetfire when he tried to say something. "But I must warn you. Scourge is the kind of Decepticon who plays with one's emotions, which is why I am not surprised that Spitfire nearly lost her temper on him. He will say things to you to upset you. And most likely try to hurt you through mental capacities. He is manipulative and cunning. So you must be prepared for that."

Anya merely nodded as she looked right up at Optimus. She understood his meaning. She had already seen that part of the Sweep Master while posing as Domovoi Korbacs. Now that she actually thought hard about it, she realized that it should have been obvious who he was. The name that he was using as a human version, Korbacs, it was the Hungarian name for Scourge. "I understand and I will accept it." She told him.

Optimus just nodded before looking around at everyone. "I think its best if we retire from the medic bay and allow Ratchet to tend to his young patient. We must prepare ourselves for what is to come." He told everyone.

Again, everyone nodded as they turned towards the doors and started out. Maggie and Trent both waited behind with Ratchet and Optimus, though even Ironhide was lingering around the door, waiting for the Autobot Leader. "Is it all right if I hang around here, Optimus?" Maggie asked, looking up at the large rig.

It was a glance to Ratchet to be the answer. Optimus knew very well that it was best to ask him for his permission. The medic, however, was paying more attention to his computer but he was also waving a hand over his shoulder, as if telling them don't bother him. "Hm. I don't think it will be a problem." The Autobot Leader finally said as he looked back down at Maggie. "I'll probably send Sunstreaker in here..."

"Oh no!" Both Ratchet and Maggie suddenly bellowed at the same time, ignoring the fact that all of the rooms' remaining occupants jumped. "Do not be telling that vain aftpipe to come in here, Optimus! I mean it! If he comes in here, then the other is sure to follow just to keep him company! And I do not want them messing with my equipment if they get bored! They stay the Pit away from my medic bay unless they are in need of repair!" The medic growled, now waving one of his deadly wrenches at the Autobot Leader.

Optimus just sighed as he dropped his head into his hand before he turned and walked out of the room, muttering, "May be the leader, but I never seem to have a saying in anything."

"I am so not going to even ask." Anya said, raising an eyebrow.

Maggie just grinned at her before she launched into an explaination about all of the Autobots that were there anyways. She started off with the twins, though while Trent just sat down, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to stick around, himself.

Ironhide joined Optimus walking down the halls of the Autobot Base. He was trying to figure out how he was going to approach the very subject. He knew he should say something about it. "Optimus, about Spitfire." He muttered, catching the rig's attention and causing him to look a little serious, yet concerned at the same time. The Weapons Specialist recognized the official Prime look that Optimus tend to put on when it dealt with some business situations. He only shook his head. "She needs a break, Optimus. Scourge smashed her feelings pretty hard during the interrogation. So with your permission, I think it's best if she gets out of the base for a while. Maybe even take Bumblebee with her. Those two could use some time to talk things over and rekindle that lost friendship of theirs."

Optimus was surprised to even be hearing that suggestion from Ironhide. Out of most of the Autobots, other than Prowl or Mirage, Ironhide was a very strict soldier. He would have never guessed that Ironhide of all Autobots would even be suggesting to let Spitfire have some time off. Not after her betrayal. He wasn't really one to forgive so easily, just like Mirage wasn't. It made him grimace to think of what Prowl was going to say.

But after thinking about it for a few moments, Optimus nodded. He saw Ironhide's point. Things were pretty tense at the moment, and rightfully so. He knew very well that most of the Autobots were getting a little stir crazy because they were sensing the threat against them. More or less, the human teenagers weren't doing so good, their selves. They all could use a little break.

"Permission granted. Just don't tell Mirage or Hot Rod. I do not want to be hearing their complaints right now." Optimus stated.

Ironhide nodded in understanding. He knew very well that both of them would put up a pretty big fight about letting Spitfire out of their sight. They didn't trust her and for all he knew, it might have been right not to. But then he remembered all those times back on Cybertron before she even thought about betraying the Autobots. He had been a little fond of her spirit for gun fire and she was a very good gunner. She was still a Botling in all honesty. She had done a very serious bad deed towards the Autobots, but at least she was now trying to make it up to all of them.

And if there was one thing that living on Earth that Ironhide was learning the most, it was the statement, "Forgive but don't forget."

It had taken him some time to figure out what that statement meant, but he was starting to see it. It seemed that being around the humans were changing him a lot more than he would have liked. But as the human sometimes said, maybe it was for the best.


	22. A Night To Forgive

It was easy to say that the base was a little stirred up by the thought of having a Decepticon prisoner in the brig. A lot of the soldiers were uneasy about the entire deal, and the other Autobots were a little more uneasy than they were. A few of them were on edge, though they tried to keep a brave face on. It wasn't easy because everyone knew that they were on edge. Especially Mirage. He was already a strict Autobot as it was. But now that they had a prisoner, he was becoming a little unbearable to everyone. He was grumpier than usual and did a lot of ignoring people when they asked if he was okay. Only once or twice did he give a human soldier a cold look or snap at someone, earning a quiet reprimand from Optimus, who he gave the cold shoulder to but listened to him anyway.

Mirage did a good deal of avoiding Spitfire, which she was happy for. Especially when she walked into the main hangar, still feeling smashed from the interrogation with Scourge. She had sensed his presence immediately and she couldn't help but look directly at him with a little tension.

The Stealth Officer merely gave her a cold look before turning his back on her and scooping up Blaster, who had been entertaining a few of the human soldiers with his perky and cheerful personality. He had been surprised to be scooped up so suddenly but with a glance in the direction where his mentor was glaring off, he understood. Blaster had not forgiven Spitfire any more than Mirage had, but he didn't see the point of continuing hating her when she was doing everything she could to make it up to the other Autobots. So all he did was lean far over to look around Mirage and gave the femme a look of sympathy.

Spitfire saw it and had to give him a soft look of gratitude. She was grateful to the small Communications Officer for it. She knew that he didn't forgive her for what she had done but he was willing to give her another chance to make it up. But he would not go against Mirage's decision at all though due to their bond with one another. She also wondered when he was going to start talking again. She knew that he could talk, just like everyone else knew that he could. He said a few words in Cybertronian now and then but he seemed to enjoy drawing out the fact that he didn't want to talk in Earth English right now. She knew it was his shy side of the humans that was keeping him from talking.

Still, she wished things would speed up a little. She didn't like all of the distrust that was getting from her former comrades, though she did not blame them one bit. She was still beating herself up for her betrayal all these years. She was only a little glad that a few of them were giving her the benefit of trust, more or less, that Optimus Prime was giving her his trust again. And now that Ironhide was showing that he trusted her again, which was not easy to come by at all, she was grateful. But she wished that Mirage and Hot Rod would trust her soon enough. She felt uneasy by all of the hated looks they kept shooting at her.

And she shuddered to think of what Chromia would say when she would arrived. Out of all of the Femmes of the Valkyrie unit, unlike Spitfire, herself, it was the Arcee Units that were closest to Elita One.

From her memory units, Spitfire did recall from one of the Decepticon Seekers, Jetstorm, that Chromia was extremely peeved off from her betrayal and had sworn, like many others, that she would make her pay for her betrayal. And knowing that particular femme, Spitfire knew she had better stay as far away from Chromia as much as she could if she wanted to stay active and functional.

"Spitfire."

The young Femme's head snapped up when she heard Bumblebee's voice disturb her thoughts and saw him approaching her with Sam and Elena sitting on his shoulder and Arcee trailing after him with Mikaela piggy back riding on her back. They were all looking at her with concern, after hearing that interrogation with the Sweep Master hadn't gone so well.

It was mostly Bumblebee who was the most concerned for the young femme. He hadn't heard what Scourge had said to her that shook her up so badly but he really wanted to make sure that she was okay.

"Spitfire, how did the interrogation go?" Arcee was the one to ask as she carefully set Mikaela down beside her, while Bumblebee carefully did the same with Sam and the gently handed Spitfire Elena, who was staring up at her Guardian with concern.

Sighing warily, Spitfire shook her head as she pretty much cradled Elena close to her chassis. She was indeed very tired from trying to question that slagger and even more irritated with him for his stubborn and manipulative ways. "It didn't go as well as Ironhide and I wanted it to. Scourge is just being..." She cut herself off with a very frustrated sigh before glancing down at Elena and then setting her gently onto the ground near her feet. "It just gets me how he can be."

Bumblebee tilted his head to the side, almost curiously, yet did not hide his concern for her at all as he watched her. "I heard he said something that upset you. Are you all right?" He asked, not even noticing the sly smiles that Sam, Mikaela and Elena shot at each other.

"I'll be fine, Bumblebee. I'm just a little worn out. That's pretty much it." Spitfire said, tearing her optics away from him, still unable to look directly at him when she was talking to him.

"Well, I guess that means you're ready for a break." Ironhide suddenly interrupted, surprising her again. This was the third time he had come looking for her now. More or less, Spitfire had been expecting him to come get her for another round at Scourge. But his words caught up to her, making her frown at him. The gruff Topkick truck just huffed loudly as he looked directly at her, folding his large arms over his wide chest plate. "Guess what, Spitfire. I talked to Optimus and got his permission for you to take some time off. You and Bee need to get the Pit out of the Base and do some talking."

Both said Autobots stiffened, looking at him as if he had just suddenly started to dance a jig or even started singing for no absolute reason. In fact, everyone's eyes lit up in surprise and all eyes shot to both Spitfire and Bumblebee.

"Huh?" The two young Autobots suddenly blurted out in their surprise.

Ironhide wanted so much to just laugh at the looks on their faces but instead he smirked at them, looking almost sly as the devil. He was finding this ever so amusing. "That's right. You two need some time to do some talking. So Optimus has given you two permission to leave the base for a little while." He then gave Spitfire a grim look when she looked frantically at Bumblebee and started to open her mouth to protest. "Spitfire, just shut up and get the Pit out of here with Bumblebee. You need a break from all of this. You need to get away from Mirage and Hot Rod and their Glitching. More or less, you two have some talking to do." He then jabbed a finger at the femme when she tried to say something again. "Shut it, Spit! Don't argue with me! Orders from me and permission from Prime. Get going with Bee and talk to him! I mean it!" He nearly barked at her before whirling around and walking off.

However, with his back turned to them, Ironhide was fighting himself from not snorting out with laughter as he just marched off. The looks on Spitfire's and Bumblebee's faces had nearly been priceless and he had made sure to take a silent snapshot of them for later use.

A stunned squeak escaped from Spitfire as she just stared in horror after the Weapons Specialist's retreating back. She couldn't believe he had actually talked Optimus into letting her and Bumblebee actually leave the Autobot Base together so that they could talk things over. She also got the feeling that he was trying to give them hint after what she had talked about with him earlier. She couldn't believe this at all. It was enough to kick on her cooling fans as she glanced in horror at Bumblebee, who looked surprised but there was a hint of smugness in his optics as he looked right back at her.

"Uh...what just happened? What does Ironhide mean that you guys get to leave the base to talk about things? What things do you need to talk about?" Sam asked, frowning in bewildered confusion.

A snort from Arcee showed everyone that she seemed to be catching on as she folded her arms over her chest and looked the two younger Autobots over, who were eyeing each other. "Don't worry about it, Sam. It seems that Spitfire and Bumblebee need about something a little personal. Which means," She ignored the looks that she got from both Spitfire and Bumblebee. "You two have fun now. I'll watch over Sam and Elena for you while you're out."

"What?" All three young teenagers; Sam, Mikaela and Elena asked in alarm.

"You mean we can't go with you guys?" The young man asked, looking up at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee tore his optics away from giving Arcee an annoyed look and looked directly at Sam before he sighed softly and bent down to one knee at his young friend's eye level. "Sam, if it's all right, I do need to talk to Spitfire alone this time. There is something that she and I need to discuss. So just this once, I'm going to leave you behind. Forgive me." He told him, grimacing at the thought that Sam might be a little upset.

For a moment, Sam was a little put out about having to be left behind but after thinking a little harder about what it was that his Guardian needed to speak to his former best friend about, he had to soften up. His mouth curving just a little and his eyes softening, Sam nodded in understanding. "Okay, Bee. Go ahead." he told him, softly.

"Uh, excuse me." Spitfire said, now sounding irritated as she gave Arcee and then Bumblebee a look. "Don't I get a saying in this?"

"Uh, no." Arcee suddenly blurted out, raising a raised metal eyebrow at her and folding her arms over her chassis. She was slightly miffed that Spitfire was even trying to fight the inevitable. "Spitfire, you don't get a saying in this. You heart Ironhide's orders. You have got to talk to Bumblebee." She shifted her weight on her wheel and dropped one hand on her curvy waist, giving the other Femme an equally annoyed look that she was getting right back. "Spitfire, you got to stop running away from this. You and Bee NEED to talk about what happened at the time of your betrayal."

Spitfire huffed folding her arms over her chest and shook her head as she rolled her optics towards the ceiling. "But we already talked about that!" She said, a little frantically.

Arcee then sniffed with dry amusement as she gave her fellow Femme a quirky smile. "Well, you need to talk more about it. Now get the Pit out of here, you two! If you're not out of the base in 30 seconds, I'm going to kick your afts out myself! Now move it!" She barked, pointing off towards the hangar door.

Sighing heavily, Spitfire shook her head as she merely glanced at Bumblebee before she started moving. She knew it was no use. Ironhide and Arcee were against her when it came to hiding her emotions and feelings about her former best friend. She didn't want to talk to Bumblebee about it after what she had done. But they weren't giving her a choice, so it seemed. It didn't seem that the Prime, himself, was going to give her a choice either. And neither was Ratchet, due to the fact he was just barely walking into the room, staring at a chart in his hands.

When he glanced up and looked at the small group, he seemed to crinkle his nose right at Spitfire and Bumblebee. "Aren't you to suppose to be gone by now? I thought you were suppose to take a break off the base for a little while, Spitfire." He simply stated.

"Argh! I can't believe this! Everyone is against me!" Spitfire groaned loudly before she started marching towards the hangar doors.

"Yup! Now get going already!" Both Ratchet and Arcee said at the same time as they smirked at the femme. And they said it so cheerfully that it almost worried both Spitfire and Bumblebee as they transformed into their alt forms and drove off side by side.

Sam, Mikaela and Elena glanced at one another as they watched their friends leave before looking up at Arcee and Ratchet, seeing the smirks on their faces. It was Mikaela who voiced their shared thoughts. "Why do I get the feeling that you guys are playing Matchmaker?" She asked, a growing smile on her face. Arcee only grinned down at her young ward.

But before she could answer, someone beat her to it. "That's because they are." That someone said very dryly.

Blinking in surprise, everyone turned to see a rather annoyed and frustrated looking Hot Rod entering the room. He, obviously, had been standing there the entire time. And he did not look happy at all.

Arcee frowned at him, her optics narrowing at him. "Hot Rod, if you ruin this for them, I will never forgive you for it." She told him sternly.

And for once since they even met Hot Rod and Arcee, everyone saw that they were having quite the stare down. This, no doubt, was about to turn into an argument. And if Hot Rod wasn't careful of what he was going to say next, he might just lose his own chance at the pretty violet Femme. "I'm just worried about Bumblebee, Arcee. Can you blame me for not trusting that backstabber?" The Spy Changer asked, forcefully.

The Femme just stared sternly at him, shaking her head. "No. I don't, Hot Rod. I'm worried about him too. But I'm also worried about Spitfire. Yes, she betrayed us. But at least she's trying to make up for it." She said, in irritation.

Hot Rod just balled up his fists and shook his head. "Or trying to throw us off of her true intentions. What if she's still working with Starscream, Arcee? What if her true intentions are to kill Optimus Prime next? Did you ever think that was what she's up to?" He argued.

"Hot Rod," Ratchet sighed as he dropped his hand with the data pad. "Spitfire is no match for Optimus, even if she was trying to throw him in a loop. There is no possible way that she could ever try to stab him in the back. He would catch onto her before she even tried."

"I know that! But what if she's working with Unicron's Extensions? Why else would Cataclysm be here then?" Hot Rod continued to argue.

"Argh! Just shut up, Rod!" Arcee snapped before she suddenly transformed into her bike form. "If you're going to come with us, just transform already and keep your mouth shut!"

That threw everyone off as they looked at her almost stunned. Everyone but Ratchet, that is. The medic just sighed, shaking his head. He started grumbling in Cybertronian as he stalked off, not wanting to be a part of whatever Arcee was planning. The teenagers and the Spy Changer, however, just stared at the Retro bike as if she just turned crazy.

"Wait...what? You mean..." Sam was saying.

The bike revved her engine once, almost smugly as she rolled over to Mikaela, nudging her with her handle bars. "You really think I'm going to pass this up of watching Spitfire and Bumblebee finally connecting after all of these years of watching them with everyone else, when we all knew this was going to happen someday?" She laughed. "Puh-lease! I've got to see if I win the betting pool or not! If they connect, that means the Chromia owes me and Jazz fifty gallons of Energon!" 

Again, everyone glanced around at everyone before smiles curled on their faces, minus Hot Rod, who just sighed heavily before transforming. "This is so going to end bad." He groaned before opening both of his doors for Sam and Elena to run over and hop in while Mikaela jumped onto Arcee's seat.

Seconds later, the two were speeding away from the Autobot base, trailing after Spitfire and Bumblebee. Unknowing that the Stealth Officer had been standing in the shadows under his Stealth shield the entire time, looking rather grim.

Both of them sat on the mountain look out, staring out towards the night lit cities that sat below them. It was a good few miles away from the Dam, where there would be no one to eavesdrop on their conversation, which had yet to even start. They were still in the alt modes, not wanting any unexpected visitors to see their true identities. Bumblebee and Spitfire had even activated their Holographic Molecular Imagers, pretending that they were just a pair of friends who decided to meet out there and star gaze together.

Spitfire and Bumblebee were very quiet as their human forms sat on each of their hoods, merely glancing at one another but not speaking just yet. They weren't even sure how to even start their conversation. It was making the young Scout rather nervous though he knew his former best friend was nervous as it was.

But after a while, he turned his human eyes over to the pretty red haired human form of Spitfire, watching her for a moment. "Spitfire, we should talk about this whole thing." He finally said, quietly.

"What is there to talk about, Bee?" Spitfire asked, not even looking at him but staring hard at the dark valley before them. "We already talked about this. I told you why I betrayed Optimus and you and everyone..."

The young human version of Bumblebee shook his head as he turned on his own hood and faced her, still leaning against his true form. "Yeah, we did talk about why you betrayed us. I already got that concept, Spit. But we didn't talk about us." He said, frowning slightly.

Almost surprised by what he said, Spitfire turned her head and gave him a bewildered look. She couldn't believe he was even bringing that up. She didn't want to believe it. They had never really talked about something as their relationship or anything. "What about us, Bee? What is there to talk about?" She asked, skeptically, not wanting to face the facts. She shook her head as she pushed herself off of her hood, taking a step back away from him when he did the same. "We were friends and that was it. After my betrayal, after I nearly got you killed, that stopped!"

"Spitfire," Bumblebee sighed, as he moved a few more steps towards her, even though she took more steps back away from him. He ignored how hesitant she looked as he quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, keeping her from moving too far away from him. He even held on to it when she tried to pull it out of his grip. "We still are friends. I will always consider you my best friend."

"Bumblebee, please." Spitfire said, jerking her hand out of his grip and turning her back onto him. Her emotions were threatening her to break out. She felt hurt and despair deep within her and it even showed through her holographic imager as tears began to shimmer in her eyes. "I don't deserve having you as a friend. I'm but a lowly betrayer. I nearly killed you on Cybertron." She said, her voice thick of emotion.

The young scout sighed softly as he just stared at the back of her head. "I forgive you, Spitfire. I want to be your friend still. Don't turn your back on me. Don't run away from this. You know we have to talk about this." He told her.

"Why?" Spitfire asked sharply as she turned around and looked directly into his eyes, though she was starting to swear at herself because her eyes were starting to get blurry. "Because everyone else says so? I don't want to talk about it!"

"Why did you even talk to me that first time, Spit?" Bumblebee asked, suddenly surprising her. He was feeling a little hurt about how she was trying to push him away but this had to be done. He needed to know. It was time for him to find out why Spitfire had even chosen him to be her best friend. He felt like it was going to kill him if he didn't know. "Spitfire, why did you even smile at me all those years ago? Why did you cheer me up when I shot Sentinel Prime in the aft?" He had to force himself not to laugh, though it was faint anyway. "Why did you even call me your friend?"

For a very long time, Spitfire didn't answer but stared up into his eyes. She was taken back by his questions but it all made sense. Problem was, she didn't know how to answer him. She didn't know what to tell him. She could have told him that she felt bad for him for being scolded by Sentinel Prime and nearly losing his chance of becoming an Autobot. She had a little at first. But she knew that wasn't the real reason.

Her voice processor feeling very thick, the young Femme turned her eyes away from her friend, not daring to look up into his any longer. She almost didn't answer. She almost just stood there, standing in silence. She almost waited for Bee to get fed up with the dead silence and turn away, leaving her just sitting on that look out, alone.

"Because you weren't like anyone else." Her answer came quietly. She could almost feel his surprised look but she still didn't look at him. "You weren't accosting the Valkyries or me. You were...you were just being yourself. A kind and gentle Autobot warrior who didn't need to be rude and arrogant. You didn't need to say anything to get a Femme's attention. My attention." She lowered her head even lower until her chin was digging into her neck, a few tears finally deciding to go against her and sliding down her human's face. "I...I noticed you right away, Bumblebee. I saw...I saw your Spark just by looking into your eyes. It...it was so beautiful, like a pure Energon flame. You were something that I could never be. A pure soul. It was something that I could never touch. I never can. I can't destroy that, Bee. That's why...that's why I have to..." She choked before turning away from him. She had to get out of there.

But Bumblebee's hand quickly caught her shoulder, making her turn back and look up into his deep blue eyes with surprise. He looked almost stunned at her words. Surprised that she would even say things like that. It was almost...he almost looked like he disbelieved her words.

"Spitfire," Bee breathed, shaking his head still staring into her ice blue eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." He huffed softly, almost smiling in wonder while she looked only a little hurt by his words. "That's what I thought when I first saw you."

Taken back by surprise, Spitfire's hurt look was gone in a flash as she just stared at him with her bright and wide eyes. She couldn't believe he said that. "Wh-what?" She asked in a low voice.

Bumblebee gave her a weak crooked smile as he rest his wrist on her shoulder, leaning down only a little to see her eyes better from the darkness. "When I first saw you that day, when I was joining the Autobots, I thought the same thing. I thought I saw your Spark through your eyes, Spitfire. I thought your eyes were not pure Energon. But I thought they were the stars, smiling at me. That's why I was so shy of you. I knew I could never match up to you. You were way out of my league, Spit. I knew that there was no way that I could ever win your Spark. I could not touch it because...I didn't want to taint it or anything. That was why I was content of just being your friend. I thought I could just be happy that you would even talk to me, fight beside me." He shook his head again as he just gazed into her eyes before leaning his head closer to her until his forehead was touching hers. "But I was never content with just being your best friend. I got so mad at other mechs that even dared to look at you or talk to you. But I didn't say anything because I didn't think you would ever accept me."

Spitfire felt a choke rise right out of her as she reached up and covered her mouth and closed her eyes tightly, letting more energon tears just trail down her cheeks. "Are you stupid, Bumblebee?" She asked, shaking her head against his. "You were the only one I ever liked. I never liked the twins, or Hot Rod. I didn't like Cliffjumper, even though he attempted to accost me once until Flare-Up snapped at him for it and then they connected." Her eyes opened and she looked into his eyes with her wet ones. "I didn't even want Starscream when he asked me while I was with the Decepticons. I've always wanted you."

"Starscream asked you?" Bumblebee suddenly asked blankly, now pulling his head away from hers.

For the first time in a while, Spitfire laughed weakly as she glanced down at the ground before looking back at him. "Yes. But I made it very clear to him that I didn't want him. He was mad but he didn't fight me for it. He kept his clapper shut. He knew that my Spark would never belong to him." She said, forcefully as more energon tears trailed down her cheeks. "He knew that my Spark would always belong to you."

Bumblebee frowned for a moment, his eyes darkening a little at the thought that scummy Decepticon Seeker even dared to try and connect with Spitfire. But at the last of her words, his eyes softened before he reached up with his thumb and gently wiped her tears away. His deep blue gaze met hers again as he leaned his head up against hers again, keeping them locked in those icy blue-white orbs of hers.

"And my Spark belongs only to you." He whispered quietly to her.

A choking sob escaped Spitfire again as she lowered her head away from his until it fell onto his shoulder. She reached up with both hands and covered her face while he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer. She felt like her Spark was just going to burst from every word, yet flare up into a roaring ball of electricity at the same time.

But after a few seconds, Bumblebee drew away a few inches before grabbing her hands and pulling them away from her face. He waited till she looked back at her before he dipped down and pressed his human lips against hers.

Spitfire drew a breath between their lips as her eyes closed tightly again, letting tears to continue to fall before she melted against her once best friend, allowing herself to drift into kissing him right back. She pulled away sharply after a few seconds and let her human form flicker out of view, just as her real form began to click and transform. The human form of Bumblebee was quick to follow her league, flickering out of view before he, too, began to transform. His bipedal form was immediately standing up just as Spitfire was and they were quick to move towards each other, arms wrapping around one another and their foreheads pressing against each others.

Between them, however, a bright glow began to shine from each of their chest plates, growing brighter by the second as they just stood there, heads pressed against one another's and optics closed.

Unbeknownst, five pairs of eyes were watching with wide excitement and the three girls were doing their best to not to squeal while Sam had to cover his mouth to keep himself from cheering right out loud. None of the four excited youths paid any attention to Hot Rod's human form as he just stared almost flabbergasted at what he was even seeing.

"Oh my god! They kissed! And...what are they doing now? Are they finally becoming Sparkmates?" Elena asked in a very low, excited voice as she looked wide eyed at the human form of Arcee.

Arcee just shook her head, letting her black wavy hair just bounce off her shoulders as she just watched Bumblebee and Spitfire as they just remained standing there, letting the brightness of their Sparks grow even brighter between them. "No." She whispered softly to the others. "They're just connecting. It's basically Cybertronian kissing. We don't exactly kiss the way you humans do. We usually just press our foreheads together, like that and then our Spark links kind of connect, giving us the overloading feeling of compassion. It's like that feeling of getting your very first kiss. We feel the emotions loading into our systems, making us feel the compassion between each spark."

Sam just smiled as she shared a glance with Mikaela before they too leaned over and kissed each other, allowing the overwhelming feeling of their own passion remind them what their two friends were feeling right now. It made their hearts skip a little as they shared their kiss for a moment before smiling at the other two girls.

Elena had to bite her lip to keep herself from cooing loudly as she watched her Guardian finally express her feelings for her best friend. She had always known that Spitfire cared for Bumblebee after all the talks they had about him. And seeing this very moment of them kissing the way they do, she couldn't help but feel like she wanted to do that too. Someday, she would find that special boy to kiss just like Spitfire and Bumblebee was doing. She knew it would not ever be Sam. She liked him, but she knew that she couldn't like him that way. His heart belonged to Mikaela and she would never try to pry them apart.

"This is so cute." She whispered silently, feeling her heart skipping beats as she watched as the glow between the two Autobots finally dying down.

Hot Rod crinkled his nose, though his eyes were starting to soften as he watched his two comrades connect. He might have not liked this from the beginning but watching them like this, even though it was VERY wrong to do, he felt an understanding starting to fall over him. He felt that the broken trust for Spitfire was shattering into millions of pieces and then suddenly being replaced with a new one.

There was no way that Spitfire could connect with Bumblebee and then try to stab him in the back. The Sparks between them would not allow that. He saw it through the way that his two comrades' sparks had glowed. "When Sparks glow like that, it's something that would never happen if one's intentions were bad." He found himself whispering that out loud.

Surprised, Sam, Mikaela and Elena looked over at him with Arcee before they noticed the soft look in his eyes. They all began to smile again when they realized that he was opening up to Spitfire. This spying on their friends was what Hot Rod had needed to see to finally decide to trust the once betrayer. They knew that his hate for Spitfire was gone. They could see it by the way he was watching the two large Autobots finally pull away from one another and look right into each other's optics. And they felt like there was never a time that they could ever be happier than watching a once broken friendship turn into something a lot more. They would never forget this day at all.

And neither would the Decepticon that had been watching before he deciding to jump down the cliff he had been standing on, landing hard on the ground with a loud thud.

Both Bumblebee and Spitfire, as well as their hidden audience jumped spinning around with alarm and shock that someone else had been watching. More or less, they were all stunned to see the glaring red eyes of Starscream as he stood up from where he landed.

"Starscream!" Spitfire gasped, pulling sharply away from Bumblebee and covering the bottom half of her mouth. She couldn't believe he had even arrived and even wondered exactly how long he had been standing there, hiding in the dark shadows. She felt all of the fear for her dark tempered friend returning, even as Bumblebee quickly whirled his cannons to life and stepped between her and the Decepticon. She felt her Spark give a jolt when she saw him point it at Starscream and couldn't stop herself from quickly grabbing his arm, trying to pull it back. "Bumblebee, no." She begged.

Suddenly, her fear turned back into shock when there came two pairs of loud transforming clicks from somewhere off to the side. Her and Bumblebee's optics could have grew very wide as they watched Arcee and Hot Rod quickly move over to join their sides, weapons trained onto the Decepticon.

"Ar-Arcee! Hot Rod! Ho-how long have you...?" Spitfire stammered in alarm.

Both ignored her as they glared at Starscream, not firing their weapons but keeping them trained on the glaring Seeker. They did not want to admit that they had been eavesdropping with their three human friends and wouldn't until they dealt with the threat standing before them.

"Not now, Spitfire!" Hot Rod said sharply as he let his visor quickly snap shut over his optics and he prepared to fire at the Seeker, who had yet to take his glare off of the fiery red Femme.

Spitfire wanted so much to just say something, beg her comrades not to shoot Starscream. But she also knew that she couldn't let Starscream hurt them. So with a sigh, she let her own cannon blaster spin out and she looked directly at her former evil friend. "Sta-Starscream, why are you here and ho-how long have you...?" She was starting to ask.

Starscream narrowed his fiery red optics at her, not sparing the other three Autobots a glance as he just remained standing there, not even pulling out his own weapons. It was not really his intentions to fight them anyway. "Long enough, Spitfire!" He snarled at her before straightening up to his full height. "Barricade gave me your message."

Blinking in surprise, Spitfire felt her breath catch for a moment before she quickly reached out and touched Bumblebee's arm, giving him a pleading look. She knew that he wasn't going to like it but she needed him to power down his cannon blaster.

And of course, Bumblebee didn't like it as he glanced at her, but slowly, he lift his cannon upward, admitting that he would stand down for a moment. He would not holster his cannons but keep them ready for anything that the Seeker might try. He was not particularly happy to see the wicked mech, even after learning that he once asked Spitfire to become his. It sent a burning anger through his Spark but he would respect her wishes and not fire upon the Seeker until he posed a real threat against them. He was as surprised as she had been when he arrived so suddenly, as well as Hot Rod and Arcee. It almost made his cooling fans kick on to think that they had been watching this entire time.

And with a brief glance to the side, he saw three pairs of wide, fear-filled eyes watching the show down with the Decepticon. He couldn't believe that Sam, Mikaela and Elena had watched them too. Talking about embarrassing.

However, it took a moment for Hot Rod and Arcee to relish their weapons like Bumblebee had. They just glared at the offending Decepticon for a moment, even as Spitfire leaned forward to look at each of them. They didn't look back at her, but kept their glares on their known enemy before they finally did the same thing as Bumblebee had. They almost tensed up again when Spitfire slowly took a step past them, moving dangerously closer to Starscream. They didn't blame Bumblebee at all when he almost quickly joined her. But it took Spitfire to glance over her shoulder quickly, giving him an attempted but not so reassuring look, shaking her head slightly.

The Autobot Scout did not relax at all but watched Starscream very carefully, his cannon arm starting to lower a little but he kept it away from aiming at the Seeker. He just watched very hard at what his enemy might do to Spitfire.

Starscream had merely glanced at the other three Autobots when Spitfire turned her optics away from him but he made no move to be a threat. He was severely pissed, truth be told, after watching Spitfire connect with that infernal yellow insect. And he wasn't going to hide the fact that he was either. He just glared at Spitfire as she turned back towards him.

"So," The fiery red Femme began, though her voice processor could not hide the fact that she was terrified of the outcome of this confrontation. She almost grimaced that she was showing such weakness but she couldn't help it. "Starscream, Barricade told you what I asked him to."

The Seeker growled, his optics narrowed to dangerous slits but he bobbed his head up and down to let her know his answer. "That fragging device of mine was not meant for that son of a glitch, Spitfire! You knew that!" He snarled at her.

Spitfire huffed quietly, almost amused by his anger. But she shook her head as she remained standing only a few feet away from Bumblebee, knowing that if she moved any closer to Starscream, it might set him off to trying to shoot the Decepticon. She would rather have a word with her once, mistrustful friend before getting hostile. "Sorry, Starscream. I knew it was meant for Megatron, but...Barricade kind of had it coming." She said, almost lightly.

Scoffing, Starscream lift his head higher as he continued to glare at her. He still did not pull out his weapons or even reached for his device to cause this troublesome Femme pain, though he really wanted to. "Your request." He began his tone very harsh. "Barricade said that you wanted to talk to me about something very important. I almost did not come to speak to you! So make it quick, Femme, before I change my mind about destroying the four of you!"

Hot Rod scoffed loudly and almost made a very sarcastic remark but he had to stop when Spitfire shot him a look. He would have shot her the look right back but right now, he had to focus on Starscream. This Decepticon was one that he did not want to put his guard down for.

Turning her optics back to Starscream, Spitfire merely dipped her head into a nod as she took a deep breath. This was going to be very tricky and she needed to piece her words right or they were going to be in trouble. She knew that Starscream would most likely refuse immediately but she still had to try. "Star," She began carefully, ignoring the growl she got for her old nickname for the Seeker. "I want to negotiate with you for a truce between the Autobots and Decepticons."

Her very words not only took the Decepticon by surprise, but her three comrades, as well as the three human teenagers. She was very aware of the shocked looks they were now giving her but she still kept her gaze right on her former Decepticon friend as he lift his head, clearly showing that he was surprised. She knew that there was no way that he couldn't be.

"A truce?" demanded Starscream, narrowing at least one fiery red optic at her. "A truce between Autobots and Decepticons? Are fragging nuts, Spitfire? Why in the Pit would I discuss a truce with you? Or any of you fragging, worthless Autobot scums for that matter?"

Spitfire did not flinch away from his words but grew bolder as she just lift her head, keeping a serious look on her face. She knew that this was going to be hard but she still had to have it out. "Because we, Autobots and you, Decepticons have the same problem, Starscream." She paused for a moment, letting those words settle into Starscream's processor. "Cataclysm. Scourge. Cyclonus. And Unicron. I know why you want to revive Megatron, even though you hate him with every inch of your Spark."

"Oh really?" Starscream asked coldly. "Care to share how you know that?"

The fiery red Femme merely shrugged as she continued looking into Starscream's glare. "It's obvious, Star. With Cataclysm being here on Earth, he poses a bigger threat to you than the Autobots do." She explained, seriously. "He's here to steal the All Spark Shard to jump start Unicron. He and the Minicons. Why else would he be here? And if he brings back Unicron, we all know that Cybertron will have no chance of surviving his wraith. Which is why you need to bring Megatron back to life because he and Optimus Prime are the only ones who can kill Unicron again." She said, her voice hardening.

Starscream scoffed sharply, shaking his head as he glared harder at her. "You're so fragging stupid, Spitfire." He almost laughed harshly when her optics flinched at his harsh words. He ignored the fact that Bumblebee began to growl at him in rage for his insults. "Cataclysm isn't here to steal that fragging Shard. He's here to kill you." He said sharply. "By the orders of Unicron, himself. He's here to hunt you down, capture you and take you to your old master."

Spitfire drew back in alarm by his words and she knew very well that Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Arcee were too. "What? But he's...Unicron is gone..." She was saying.

"Oh, no he is not, Spitfire." Starscream laughed harshly, though she knew it was forced. "His metal frame might be in Stasis Lock, but he is very much alive. Maybe through the sub consciousness of his Minicons, but he's the one who's running this freak show, not me! He is Cataclysm, Spitfire! It's not that son of a Glitch that's threatening me and the other Decepticons! And he is coming for you, Femme! You better watch your back! Because I am done doing it for you!"

"You have not been watching my back, Starscream!" Spitfire said just as harshly, now glaring back at him. She knew she was treading dangerous waters now but she couldn't help it.

Starscream just shook his head with a cruel smirk curled onto his twisted face. "Oh, yes I have. Even after you betrayed me! I've always known where you've been because of my device, Spitfire! I knew that you were in Mission City! Barricade didn't even have to tell me that it was you that stopped him from helping Bonecrusher take down the Prime! I knew that you were there! But my priority was to set Megatron free and get the All Spark! I even blocked your signal to make sure the other Decepticons didn't know that you were around!" He growled at her.

Spitfire was surprised like the other three Autobots were but she still couldn't accept his words. She just shook her head. "I wasn't going to betray you, Starscream! I was going to talk you into making a truce with the Autobots and end this stupid war that Megatron started! He killed Cybertron, Star! And that's why you hate him!" She argued, her eyes still looking sternly at the Seeker.

Growling in anger, Starscream turned slightly away from her, yet continued to glare into her icy white optics. He just shook his head as he already started to click, announcing his transformation. "You don't know anything, Autobot Glitch! And you are running out of time! Cataclysm is coming now! You better start running because if you're near the Prime and his Autobots tomorrow night, he's going to kill them all just to get his claws on you!" He snapped before he spun around and blasted off into the night.

His words, however, shook Spitfire up enough to make her literately jump as she stared after the Seeker with alarm and fear. And she was not the only one who was shaken up. Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Arcee all looked at one another with alarm before looking at Sam, Mikaela and Elena, who looked just as frightened about what they just learned.

By the way Starscream had just put it, their enemy, Cataclysm was not far away from them at all. He made it sound like he was only a day away from them. And the Seeker had clearly said that he would be there to kill Spitfire the very next night.


	23. Miracles Do Happen

The minute that they returned to the base, everyone knew that something was wrong. Especially when the three cars and the motorcycle came speeding through the hangar doors and ignoring the shouts of protest and indignation from soldiers that they almost came close to hitting. They didn't even stop to let their human friends out or even transformed as they began speeding through the large corridors of the Base in search for the Autobot Leader.

Yes, the Scout, the Spy Changer and the two Valkyries were in a very big hurry to find Optimus Prime and deliver the foreboding news to him.

They even ignored Ironhide when they came close to clipping him while he had to snatch up Will Lennox and Robert Epps to avoid them becoming road kill and having him yell after them to slow the frag down. They completely shut off his Cybertronian swear words that if they didn't, he would shoot them.

Optimus Prime was in the Intelligence and Communications Room, looking at all of the information that Hound and Glenn had managed to gather from Anya's laptop. They knew very well that things were getting intense but they very well knew things were going to speed past intense when they got the complaint transmission from the Weapons Specialist about the younger Autobots. They even received one from a very angry Sunstreaker, who had been arguing with Maggie Madsen after she left Anya to rest. He had been with Sideswipe, who was mostly serving as a stand by to make sure that he didn't attempt to kill the intelligent Aussie for annoying him. And that was when they both had to leap back to avoid getting hit by the four speeding Autobots and ended up bumping into each other. So therefore, he had a nice big scratch on his paint job.

So they were expecting the four younger Autobots the very minute they came screeching into Hound's new lab.

"Bumblebee, Spitfire, Hot Rod and Arcee," Optimus immediately began sternly as he turned his optics onto them. He watched as Mikaela quickly jumped off of her Retro friend while Sam and Elena were jumping out of Spitfire and Bumblebee before they transformed. "I have many complaints..."

"Optimus Prime, sir! We've got a very, very serious problem!" Hot Rod immediately interrupted, not hesitating a second to jump into it. He was already in his bipedal form the minute he entered the room, looking very alarmed and serious. "Cataclysm will be here within tomorrow or even a few short hours!"

Immediately, the very serious Leader mode clicked in and Optimus Prime straightened, while Hound and Glenn's mouths fell in alarm. He was already getting the idea of the situation was starting to turn for the worst. "How did you come by this information, Hot Rod?" The Autobot Leader asked, his tone serious.

Arcee quickly shook her head as she rolled forward on her wheel, looking directly at him. "Starscream approached us." She paused for a second, shaking her head when Optimus looked alarmed to hear that. "Well, approached Spitfire and Bumblebee and told them. He simply stated that." She finished.

Optimus frowned but looked directly at the rather shaken up looking Spitfire then over to Bumblebee, who remained glued at her side. He took in the serious look within the Scout's optics and received a nod from him. "Report." He said in his Leader tone.

Immediately, Hot Rod gave the report. He told Optimus why he and Arcee had left the base with their humans but didn't give the exact details of what they saw Spitfire and Bumblebee doing. He knew it wasn't really any of anyone's business, though he was going to get an earful from his two comrades later. He just reported that Starscream had come out of nowhere to talk with Spitfire and listen to what she had to say to him. He explained to what he had said and it worried Optimus Prime even more than he was before. Especially to hear that Unicron may have had some influence on Cataclysm's presence.

By the time he was finished, Optimus looked very grave while Hound was nearly shaking a little from the horror he had heard. It was not good news at all.

For a moment after Hot Rod's report, Optimus didn't say anything but took in all of the information before turning slightly away to think harder about the situation. It was getting way too serious now. They had a lot of problems starting to rise up and he knew that it was going to be worst on the humans now that Unicron may be the one responsible for his own Minicon approaching their base. And what made it even more worst was they still could not find Cataclysm.

It was at this time, a few of the other Autobots had arrived and they had heard the last bit of Hot Rod's report. So the Intelligence and Communications room was nearly as silent as a grave, with exception of the humming computers. Everyone was a little shaken up by how grave Optimus was, himself.

Finally, Optimus turned around and looked at every one of his Autobots who were all staring at him and awaiting his orders. Even the human soldiers were waiting for what he would say, looking grim but ready to snap into action. They knew that the situation was getting ready to snap and they knew they needed to be ready to fight the instant that they needed to. "Autobots," He began in Leader mode. "We must prepare for battle. Surround the Base perimeter and begin searching in the horizon. It's more than likely that Cataclysm is coming here. He seems to be searching for Spitfire and we must make sure he does succeed with his intentions. Spitfire is one of us and we will protect her and our human allies with our lives. The downside to all of this, we not only have a dangerous Decepticon prisoner but our numbers are outnumbered by the Decepticons. Hound," He immediately barked, turning sharply to the IT Autobot, who straightened tall and stiff much like the soldier he was. "Contact Secretary Keller and ask him if he would ask the rest of the United Nations for support. We will need as much help as we can. Also, prepare a few hologram simulations. We will need a few of them."

"Yes, Optimus Prime, sir!" Hound barked before he turned quickly and began messing with the Teletraan system.

Optimus turned back towards the other Autobots, looking them over quickly before letting his optics settle onto Ironhide. "Ironhide, assist our human allies in preparing their weapons. The more we can get, the better."

"Right!" Ironhide snapped loudly before whirling around and looking at the soldiers. "Let's roll it!" He told them just as loudly and immediately the human soldiers nodded and began running as fast as they could for the armory hangar.

It was Mirage's turn for Optimus to look at, who immediately stepped forward with the knowledge that his orders were coming right away. Even Blaster was standing straight and stiff on his shoulder, looking ready for his orders. "Mirage, you will lead the guard team. I want guard towers set up within the mile of the Base. You know what to do." The Autobot Leader ordered before looking at Blaster. "Blaster, you're to stay here with Hound. I need you to start transmitting messages out into the open space for any close Autobot units. We need them to come in immediately. Even if they are searching for Decepticon enemies. The more we can get, the better our advantages will be."

Blaster looked a little worried to be away from Mirage but with a glance to his mentor and receiving an encouraging nod, he snapped to attention again and sharply nodded back to Optimus. "Yes, Optimus Prime, sir!" He finally spoke, surprising quite a few Autobots and humans who had yet to hear his voice. He sounded rather young, but brave as any could be.

"Good. Get to it." Optimus said seriously. Then he turned away from them as Mirage quickly let Blaster scale down his arm to join Hound while turned and hurried off to get together a scouting unit.

Optimus finally turned to face the other remaining Autobots and the humans who remained in the room. He looked to the young teenagers, Reno Banes and the remaining humans still in the room. "We will need to get some of the civilians in the safe rooms. They cannot endure the battle that may take place. Sam, you will need to convince your family and Sarah and Annabelle to go into the safe rooms. You may as well join them. In this battle, it's going to be too dangerous for you." He told him.

Sam slowly shook his head and shrugged at the same time. "I would like to help though, Optimus." He plainly stated.

"I know, Sam. But to battle Cataclysm is going to be too dangerous. He is not like Megatron. He is bigger and possibly more powerful. If I had a choice, I would let you help us fight. But this is not like Mission City." Optimus told him before bending down to be a little more level with the young humans. "You can help by preparing for the worst. I will you to guide the other civilians to safety. Get them into the safe rooms where they can avoid the fight."

Slowly, Sam nodded and was joined by Mikaela and Elena. They would all work together to do this. They would probably get Trent's help too, though he was probably still in the medic bay entertaining Anya and telling her everything about what he's been seeing with Maggie sitting beside him. They would probably need their help too. And Reno's.

But, it seemed that Reno had other ideas. He moved forward to stand next to Sam and look right up into the Autobot Leader's optics. "Optimus, I don't know exactly what I can do, but I'd like to fight along side you." He said before holding up a hand to Mikaela when she frowned at him and started to say something. "Hold on, Mickey. Let me finish." He turned back to Optimus who also was frowning. "Believe it or not, this old cars salesman was once a U.S. Marine. I quit the Marines nearly twenty years ago when there was no action going on and they kept telling me that my brother kept getting into trouble with the law. I went non-active because I had to try and keep my brother out of trouble. It didn't always work but I tried. I'm growing fond of you and your Autobots, Optimus. I would be honored if you allowed me to fight with you guys." He stated.

There was a pause as Optimus took in his words before smiled and nodded. "Very well, Reno Banes. You should probably join Lennox and Epps to gearing up. But before you do, why don't you all come with me. I think it's time to try something out." He said, looking directly at Ratchet.

No one seemed to know what he was talking about, with exception of Ratchet. He had straightened when Optimus looked at him but he nodded. "He is ready, Optimus. I have repaired him to the exact details I remembered whenever I had to work on him. But I still do not believe this will work." He told him as he turned slightly as if ready to take off, himself.

"We must try, my friend. We owe it to him." Optimus told the medic.

"What are you talking about?" Mikaela asked, frowning as she shared a glance with each Sam and Elena.

Optimus just shook his head as he stood up and glanced around at the remaining Autobots, who were now starting to straighten. They were all getting the idea of what he was trying to say. The twins had quickly glanced at one another with bright eyes, while Bumblebee took a step forward. "You mean..." He was saying. He only received a nod.

They immediately went into the Medic Bay, surprising Anya, Trent and Maggie, with Jetfire standing over them like a body guard. Ratchet was in the lead, moving towards a large set of doors that he usually kept locked. No one had thought to ask him what was behind those doors before now. They had always thought that was where he was keeping his tools. He had constructed them, himself without anyone even seeing what he had been up to.

But now, the human allies who had been called back to the medic bay, as well as the other Autobots who were not busy preparing their selves for the upcoming battle were standing by to watch as the Medicbot began punching in a code in the number pad he had sitting beside the door. A moment later after finishing the code, the doors whooshed open wide and a few gasps arose from everyone.

Sitting behind the doors in a large cut out hide away sat the body of their fallen comrade, Jazz.

No one could believe what they were even seeing. Not any of the humans and certainly not any of the other Autobots. Everyone had been unaware that Ratchet had been repairing their fallen comrade. They had always thought that Jazz had gone to the bottom of the sea like the Decepticons had. Or even at the bottom of the river filling into the Hoover Dam. They had not known that he had been there the entire time.

More or less, everyone was feeling anxious as they watched as Optimus reached into his chassis and pulled out a very curious item. They had known about the All Spark shard, of course but they hadn't known that he was carrying it with him. Then again, he was the best at defending it.

Everyone just watched as he approached Jazz's body with Ratchet still hovering over him, doing last minute examinations. And almost everyone was nearly holding their breaths, waiting to see if what Optimus was planning to do was actually going to work. They really hoped that it did. Jazz was one of their closest allies and friends. And he was one helluva fighter. If they could find some way to resurrect him, they would have a good chance at Cataclysm, even without more Seekers.

"Ratchet, is he ready?" Optimus asked as he held the Shard within his fingers, looking over his Lieutenant's cold and motionless form.

Ratchet frowned as he examined Jazz, looking every inch of him over before turning on his scanners and running them over him. He was quiet for a very long time as he continued his examinations before nodding to Optimus. "He's in perfect condition. I have replaced many of his parts that I had ordered in. Some of them were a little different from what he was used to but they should work just fine. Everyone," He paused to look at everyone in the room. "Stand back. If this works, it's going to be very messy. Stay away from any of the machines. They may start sparking up because of the All Spark energy. So to avoid any further injuries, stay in the middle of the room." He told them.

And as he spoke, everyone; human and Autobot moved away from Ratchet's computers. Even Jetfire had to carefully lift Anya out of her medical bed, away from the heart meters just to be cautious. With her, Trent decided to stay close to her, while Maggie found herself in the hand of Sunstreaker. She had been surprised that he picked her up but neither one complained. She figured that he was taking his forced Guardian duties a little more seriously.

But all eyes remained on Optimus as even Ratchet moved backward to allow him more room. They looked either from the Prime to their dead friend, watching carefully of what was going to happen. And they all kept a prayer in their hearts and Sparks, hoping that this would work.

Taking a deep breath, Optimus looked at the Shard in his hand. "Please, let this work." He murmured quietly before turning back to Jazz and lowering the shard closer to his center chest plate.

For a moment, nothing happened. The Shard remained motionless and still as any other triangular rock. It didn't spark up like everyone had hoped that it would.

"Optimus, it's not working." Jetfire stated the obvious, making quite a few others sigh in disappointment. "It's not getting enough Energon. For a resurrection like this, it's going to take a lot of it. The Shard is just too weak right now."

Optimus sighed as he merely glanced over his shoulder at his Decepticon Seeker friend before stopping when he saw the look on Spitfire's face. She looked rather hesitant and it took everyone a moment to realize that she was starting to move forward. She had taken only one step forward, immediately catching Bumblebee's attention. But then she made a few more steps forward, looking directly at Optimus.

"Optimus Prime, sir." The young femme murmured quietly before she cleared her processor and held out her hand as she used the other one to start opening up her chest plate. "Allow me to do it."

Everyone froze as they stared at her with alarm. Bumblebee even shook his head quickly as he took a step forward, looking at her with almost fear. He, like everyone, was getting the idea of what she was going to try to do. Even Ratchet was shaking his head as he looked at her sternly. "Spitfire, if you connect the All Spark with Starscream's device and use the Energon it has been collecting, it could kill you." He said seriously.

Spitfire merely glanced at him before looking back at Optimus, almost begging him to let her try. "I know. But I have been collecting a lot of Energon. There may be a chance that it won't take all of it. I'll probably be a little weakened but I don't think it will kill me. Please, sir. Let me try this. I think...I think this is the only way I can redeem myself for what I've done to you and everyone. Allow me to use my Energon to bring him back." She told him.

"Spitfire, don't..." Bumblebee began, sounding very worried.

The young Femme turned around and looked right at him, her optics soft as she looked into his own. She knew he was worried. There was a possibility that she might not survive this. But she had to try. It was better to use the collected Energon for Jazz than end up using it for Megatron. She would rather die for Jazz than bringing that monster back to life, even if it was against her will. "Bee, it's going to be okay. I know I'm strong enough to do this. I think I got stronger when you finally told me...that you loved me." She told him, smiling softly at him.

A few smiles and excited murmurs broke out as people looked at one another or stared at the two young Autobots with surprise. Ironhide was one of the few to start chuckling as he 'secretly' pumped a fist, though a few others saw him do it anyway. Mirage was frowning to hear that but he didn't look too surprised.

"Ooh. I think Chromia's gonna be pissed when she finds out she lost that betting pool." Sideswipe snickered with his twin brother, who also was grinning almost evilly. They earned a few frowns though from their words.

"Hey. Who's Chromia?" Epps was the one to ask, frowning with Lennox.

Arcee just snickered as she glanced over at them with an innocent shrug. "One of my sisters." And she shot Ironhide a glance, who gave her an irritated look. "And Ironhide's sparkmate, who likes to shoot him when he pisses her off."

Quite a few alarmed looks were shot at the Weapons Specialist who just lift his head and gave them a look as if asking them what the big deal was. He even nodded to Lennox when he saw him giving him a questionable look. "Yeah, so?" He merely grunted when everyone still looked at him with surprise. Spitfire looked back at Bumblebee, giving him a light smile before turning back to Optimus. She moved closer to him, looking up at him because he was so much bigger than her. She looked almost pleadingly up at him, begging him to give her a chance.

After a long moment, Optimus sighed softly before he lowered the Shard right into her hands. "Please don't get yourself killed doing this, Spitfire. We just got you back. We don't want to lose you again." He told her gently.

Spitfire nodded once before she turned and approached Jazz's body, looking directly at his face. She had always liked Jazz. He had always been kind to her. He had never treated her poorly like a few others had, even after her betrayal. There had been only a few times that she saw him on the battle field while with the Decepticons and he had seen her. He never engaged with her or gave her a look of hate for her selfish deeds. He had only given her a look of disappointment but never pulled his guns on her.

Taking a deep breath, Spitfire reached up and pulled open her chassis, revealing her ice white Spark from within, which began to glow brightly as if feeling the very same thing she was. It seemed to know of what her deeds was to be right now. She paused only once to glance at Ratchet as he moved forward with her with what looked like jumper cables in his hand. He didn't look happy about this, but he knew that she was not going to turn away from this.

"This is going to hurt you, you know that, don't you, Spitfire?" The Medicbot asked as he held up the cables.

Spitfire only nodded as she reached out and took one of them before clamping one of the them on her spark chamber. She winced only once from the tight squeeze but she nodded to Ratchet as he took the other and clamped it onto Jazz's Spark chamber. "I know. But I meant what I said. I've gotten stronger. I'm ready to do this." She told him.

Ratchet only sighed as he stepped back to allow her more room. He didn't approve of this. So many things could go wrong if Spitfire was not careful.

Watching him step back, Spitfire finally turned back towards Jazz before she took a very deep breath and looked at the All Spark Shard. This small triangle stone was going to bring Jazz back and she was going to help it. She just hoped that it didn't kill her in the process. She had a lot to live for now.

Flickering her eyes shut for a moment, she reached out with the Shard and pressed it against Jazz's chest and allowed the fireworks to fly.

As soon as the Shard had touched his chest, sparks flew from the Shard, as well as from Spitfire's chest. She could not stop herself from crying out in pain as she felt the device activating and began pulling her Energon from her Spark chamber. She felt the strain already tugging at her as it began to trail through the cables right into Jazz's. Electricity flared up from each side of the cables as well as the Shard, dancing along both Spitfire and Jazz. The lifeless body even gave a jerk as a body would after being electrocuted.

Throughout the room, and even the entire base, lights and computers began to flicker, making almost every one in the Dam jump with alarm. Cries of shock rose out in every room of the Base and even Scourge frowned as he looked around his brig cell with alarm.

A cry from Spitfire was what nearly set Bumblebee off as he started taking a few steps forward to aid her. He didn't get very far as Optimus grabbed his arm, holding him back and shaking his head. He didn't like hearing Spitfire in pain any more than the Scout didn't. But they could not interfere now. If they did, it could kill her faster and probably more painfully.

"Argh." Spitfire yelped as the electricity intensified all around her. It was enough to let her fall down to her knees, using the berth to hold herself up.

The All Spark Shard glowed even brighter, letting electric bolts flying from it into Jazz and even flickered against the femme's hands. It was getting too bright that humans and Autobots had to lift their arms to shield their faces to protect their eyes or optics. There was even some kind of sonic boom within the room, nearly deafening everyone. The energy wave exploding from the Shard even knocked some of them back a little or sent a few humans falling onto their backs. Most of the Autobots had braced their selves for it but they tried their best to watch as a light show of electricity flickered from both Jazz and Spitfire.

And any who could see barely, they saw the bright glow from within Jazz's chest plate as it intensified from the Energon pouring out of Spitfire into him.

Just then the lights throughout the entire Base flashed brightly until a few exploded from overloading, making a few people scream or cry out in shock as they watched it happen. Spitfire had her optics shut tightly but she managed to pry one open, looking directly at Jazz, watching as his darkened orbs began to flicker brightly from the energy.

'Come on, Jazz! Come back to us, already! Cause this hurts!' She thought as she allowed the Shard to pull more Energon from her. She was draining fast now and her Energon level was getting dangerously low.

Suddenly, Jazz's optics flashed brightly and there was another loud sonic boom that nearly knocked all Autobots and humans to their knees. A brilliant glow exploded from within the once still Autobot's chest as a Spark flared to life within the Spark chamber. Jazz's body gave a mighty jerk as sharp gasp flared out of his vocal processor. His body had shot up straight just as the lights within the Base flared so bright that it blinded every person in the Dam before everything went black.

Spitfire felt herself finally collapse and she fell backwards into a heap. She was nearly the only sound in the dark medic bay, with exceptions of everyone starting to ask what the Slag just happened. It was a hand quickly touching her arm that made her jump and she looked up to see familiar blue optics looking down at her with worry. She knew instantly that it was just Bumblebee checking up on her.

Finally after a few moments, the lights began to flicker back online allowing everyone to glance around and ask others if they were all right. But when everyone looked forward and someone gasped loudly, everyone had to just stare in alarm.

"Yo, hommies! What's a crack-a-lacking?" The grinning Jazz asked as he just sat there, one leg crossed over the other and his chin resting on the back of his hand.

 

In the darkness of his brig cell, Scourge was still frowning as he looked around. He didn't understand what that power surge was just now but he was starting to get the idea. He knew it wasn't time for the attack yet. He knew it would be happening soon because he could feel his comrade's presence inching closer.

"Hmm. What are those Autobots up to?" The Master Seeker asked no one in particular.

A sudden sound made his head spin when he realized someone was approaching his cell. He frowned at that figure in the shadows, moving a little closer to see them better. And seeing who it was, an evil smirk curled onto his face. "Well, it's about time." He hissed in evil delight.


	24. First Strike

His heart was racing due to the fact that he felt so much fear within his entire existence about what he was being told what to do. He did not want to do this but the fear of what that monster could do to his family had him so shaken up that he didn't dare to refuse.

Vladimir Karpos silently slipped into the building, glancing around. He saw that there were quite a few soldiers in the main hangar and he felt his heart give a jolt when he saw that there were a few near by. He almost just froze right there, waiting for someone to spot him. But after a moment, he slowly began making his way into the hangar, moving towards the barracks. He had had his orders from that monster. It shook him just thinking about it.

Before entering the secret military base within the United States' Hoover Dam, Vladimir had been sitting in the seat, staring out at the large Dam sitting so innocently there. The monstrous Dump truck had been sitting within a large crevice for hours now, waiting for the sun to go down. The monster had even told Vladimir to keep his mouth shut while they waited. But as the sun went down, the orders came.

"You're to go inside and free my servant, who is being kept within the Brigg of this military base. He will instruct you what to do next after you locate him. Infiltrate the military units if you have to. But if you even so try to warn any of them, I will come after you. And not even they can protect you or your wretched spawn, Anya. Do I make myself clear?" The robot growled at him through his radio system.

The Russian just shakily sighed and nodded as he started to climb out of the cab, moving along the small catwalk on the front of the Lieberr before going down the ladder. He knew better than to refuse this monster. It was fear for his daughter that kept him listening to it. It had already told him that it had Anya in one of its companions' clutches. One word from the monster would have been the death of his youngest child. He could not risk Anya's life to warn the Americans that there was a monster right outside their base.

It took a little while to hide within tourist groups being led by a Guide on the Dam before slipping into a vacant closet and awaiting for guards to pass by. He had seen pass by the closet already before they finally stopped coming. There had been talk already about how the military was starting to form together to set up guard towers within a mile of the Dam.

Somehow, Vladimir realized that the Americans might have already knew that there was a threat approaching their base by the way they were talking. They were fully armed, as it was.

Once most of the activities stopped, the Russian IT snuck out of the closet and slipped into the base itself. He was almost too amazed to see the size of the base within the dam and under it. It was massive in size, almost as if it could fit the so said giant robots, their selves. He couldn't think that the Americans would even associate with the alien robots but he didn't have time to even think about it. He needed to hurry. He was on time deadline.

So sneaking into the main hangar, keeping his head down as he passed by many military officials, Vladimir approached the barracks, where he found a U.S. military uniform. It would be the perfect disguise to blend in.

As quickly as possible, Vladimir discarded his own cloths and slipped into the uniform, grabbing a soldier's helmet to help hid his identity. He jumped a few times at American voices as some of the soldiers were talking excitedly. And even more, when the lights throughout the entire building began to flicker and flash as if there was a power surge going on. He felt uneasy, thinking that maybe the monster had already began his attack on the Dam but not hearing any gunfire, he disregarded and went on to finding the Brigg as the monster robot had ordered him too.

When the lights suddenly blacked, Vladimir had no choice but to stop and wait for them to come back on. He could hear excited voices everywhere when he did. The Americans were excited about something. They didn't seem to be in a hurry into battle so it couldn't have been an attack. They were actually talking about something that seemed to happen in the Medical facility of the Base. But Vladimir didn't pay too much mind to them. He just kept up with his search for the Brigg and finding the monster's comrade.

That is, until a giant foot nearly stepped on him.

Yelping in alarm, Vladimir jumped back to avoid getting crushed as his head shot upward to see what the foot belonged to. His heart almost gave a jolt in fear when he saw a giant robot standing over him. It was a massive black one, who had immediately spotted him once he yelped.

It looked down at him before stepping back, grimacing. "Oops. Sorry. Didn't see you coming there." It grunted, in a deep, monotonous voice before it turned and stepped over him, ignoring that he was gawking after it. "Damn humans. Can't they ever remember to stay on the yellow path? It's like they're just asking to be stepped on."

Frowning still in bewilderment, Vladimir stared after the giant alien robot before looking around the ground, noting that there was a half a section of yellow painted concrete. He shook his head as he pushed himself back to his feet and went to walk on the yellow path as the alien had grumbled about. He still couldn't believe it. The Americans actually had alien robots within their bases? How was that possible? Vladimir didn't want to think about it right now. His head was hurting from the lack of sleep and he was in a hurry to find the monster's companion. The sooner he freed it, the sooner he would free his daughter. He knew he was going to regret doing what the monster had told him to but he had to think about his family first.

Finding the brig wasn't too hard, due to there being a sign. He had found it only moments after the lights flickered back on and the run in with the giant black robot. He entered the Brig quietly and found the serpentine robot waiting for him, smirking at him as if it had been waiting for him all of this time.

"Well, it's about time." The creature hissed in dark amusement as it just sat there with its snake like body twitching. It looked directly into Vladimir's eyes with his cold black and red ones, making him flinch away. "Well, are you going to free me or not, fleshling?"

Swallowing hard, Vladimir went over to the control pad. It made him frown, due to that it was not in any language he had seen before. There was no way that he was going to be able to deactivate this thing. "I don't know what I am suppose to do." He murmured, looking to the creature, cringing away when it growled at him.

Scourge sighed heavily and shook his head, slapping his forehead in the process. He couldn't believe this fleshie. Cataclysm just had to pick up a dull one, didn't he? "Just press the green button, you idiot. Its all for show." He hissed at the human. He almost sneered when the human cringed further away from him before doing as he had ordered him.

Once the Energon laser field was deactivated, Scourge smirked as he began to flicker and activate his holoform. The image of Domovoi Korbacs flickered into view, startling the human but he ignored him. He just glanced around quickly before nodding for Vladimir to follow. "We have to avoid those slagging Autobots. They all know about me so if they see us, we're fragged. Don't say a word, fleshie. Just follow me, keep your head down and your pretty little daughter won't die a horrible death." He sneered as he activated his holoform into U.S. Military clothes.

Together, the two snuck out of the Brig, looking around. They would stick towards the wall, well away from the other Soldiers and more than once did Vladimir freeze when he saw more of the alien robots mingling in the base.

"I said, follow me and keep your head down!" Scourge hissed at him, snatching the Russian's arm and dragging him after.

"The Americans...they...they interact with you..." Vladimir found himself asking.

Scourge turned around and gave him a very dark look through his human form's dark eyes, causing the Russian IT to cringe back away from him. "If you say one more word, human, I will personally rip your daughter's throat out before beating you with it." He snarled silently at him.

Vladimir had to glare at him for the threat but he felt a terrible chill shiver down his back. He knew that this creature was being serious. And he believed him. He knew that it would kill Anya if it was given the chance. So he kept his mouth shut and followed the creature as they quickly hurried through the halls.

It was approaching a large room with many computers and machine did Scourge slow down to a halt. He made Vladimir stop with him as they watched a metallic green robot, whom the Decepticon knew was Hound, pass by, talking to a rather plump black man sitting on his shoulder. They were laughing about something, seeming excited about whatever had happened not more than ten minutes ago. The Russian watched as the creature watched them pass before turning to stare after the robot. He still couldn't believe this. The Americans were actually aligned with the alien robots. But...why? How? And why was this one trying to hide from them as they snuck around the Base?

Something was not adding up but Vladimir didn't have time to think about it as Scourge grabbed his sleeve and pulled him after into the room that Hound had come out of. They found their selves in a large computer lab of some sort.

Scourge immediately went over to a large computer with a small step up ladder, where he climbed up quickly, ordering Vladimir to follow after him. They found their selves on a large keyboard with strange computer keys. The Russian IT did not recognize any of the symbols on each of the keys at all. There so much like the alien symbols that the creatures usually carried around on their persons or so. And it seemed that the vile creature dragging him around was interested in it.

"Ah-ha." Scourge chuckled as he looked up at a theatre sized computer screen before begin messing around with the keyboard. "Looks like that Hologram creating idiot has actually activated Teletraan into the humans' computer system. This will be a problem for us." He then reached into his human form's jacket and pulled out a device of some sort. "But I think this will solve that problem."

At this time, Vladimir had decided to take a look around the computer lab and found himself amazed by many security screens. There screens all over, showing footages of the entire base. He saw many of the alien robots interacting with the Americans. They seemed to be...allies. It just confused the Russian IT completely. He even found himself wander a little closer to one screen, watching as a few of the large alien robots were laughing with the humans. They looked delighted about something.

Maybe it was that strange silver robot that had many of them crowded around it, patting its back as if greeting it.

Vladimir frowned as he watched closely, narrowing his eyes as he looked at all of the faces within the screens. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had never thought that these robots could look so friendly, unlike the ones that were threatening his life and the lives of his family. His eyes drifted on through the screens, watching American Soldiers talk excitedly and preparing for a battle.

But one screen caught Vladimir's attention.

His heart nearly stopped when he saw a large black robot, not like the one from before. It was large in size, almost the same as the first robot he saw. But it seemed to have wings sticking out of its back while it held someone in its hand.

Vladimir quickly moved towards the large key board in front of him and began looking over the many switches and buttons before finding one for zooming in on the screen that caught his attention. He used the controls to zoom in on the robot and the human it was carrying before his entire body froze over while his eyes slowly widened until they felt so dry from not blinking. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Anya." He whispered painfully and in awe.

On the screen, sitting on the robot's hand, smiling at a few other young looking humans about her age was his daughter, Anastasia Karpos. She was laughing at something that a young blonde haired teenager seemed to have said, not looking frightened or injured at all.

His heart falling from realization, Vladimir turned his head to look at Scourge, his eyes darkening from rage. He knew that the monster had lied to him about his daughter. He didn't have Anya at all. She didn't seem to be in any danger! That creature had lied to him, tricked him into freeing this snake like robot for whatever reason. He didn't understand why but he knew that he better act quick if he was going to make things right.

"There." Scourge chuckled as he connected the explosive device to the hardware drive of the computer. He pressed a button until he was merely blinking at him before he stepped back. "Bye-bye, Teletraan." He then lift up his wrist and tapped it where an orange light began to flicker. "It's set, My Lord. Shall I activate the virus?"

"Not yet, Scourge. Be quick on leaving. Teletraan will be picking up your signal very soon." A dark voice echoed from his communications system.

And even as the dark voice spoke, the giant screen began to flicker red and a warning signal began flashing on the screen; stating Security Breech! Punch in the security code to deactivate within 30 seconds or alarms will go off. 

Nodding, Scourge knew it was best to get out of there. It would only be moments before Teletraan activated the alarm system. He knew that if that happened, the Autobots would know that there was a breech in their base. But he also knew once those alarms went off, the Teletraan system would be no more.

Suddenly Scourge's personal alarm system went off and he barely had time to duck as that human tried to hit him with a human sized chair. He quickly spun away from Vladimir Karpos as he sent the chair flying at him with a loud cry. He hissed angrily before letting his human form quickly melt away and he lashed out his tail at the human, slamming it against him and sending him flying across the large keyboard.

The moment his guise fell, though, was when Teletraan picked up the Decepticon's signal and alarms blared out throughout the entire base.

"Slag!" Scourge hissed angrily before looking over at the human that had attacked him. He was pissed now. The human had blown his cover by attacking him with a chair. "Fragging human! You have no use for us anyway!" He snapped before lashing out his arm and firing a cannon blast at Vladimir.

Barely having any time at all, the Russian dove to the ground, barrel rolling as the blast sailed right over his right shoulder. He was quickly on his feet, grabbing at the dropped chair again and rushing at the robot with it. He was swearing in Russian as he tried to swing it at Scourge again, who only hissed angrily at him. He didn't even get to hit the vile robot with the chair as the Decepticon lashed out his tail again, knocking him hard off to the side until he slid right off.

Crying out in alarm, Vladimir fell the twelve feet to the ground, landing hard on his back and knocking the air out of his lungs. His head smashed against the ground, causing him to see stars and feel a warm trickle sliding down the side of his face.

And that's when the explosions began.

 

"JAZZ!" Every single Autobot exclaimed when they saw the grinning saboteur sitting there on the berth, looking like he had just been relaxing and waiting for them all that time. They couldn't believe that it had actually worked! He had come back just like they had hoped!

Jazz just continued to grin around the room at all of his amazed comrades and friends, still just sitting there. It only took a moment for him to glance down at Bumblebee who was helping a weakened Spitfire to her feet before he, too, blinked in surprise to see her. "Whoa! Looks like I missed the memo that Spitfire rejoined the Autobots. Don't know how I missed that one." He said as he stared at the once betrayer. "Hey, Spitfire! Didn't see you there!"

Spitfire weakly smiled at him as she stood before groaning and falling against Bumblebee when she felt a wave of dizziness roll over her. "Oh."

"Spitfire, are you all right?" The young Scout asked with concern.

Ratchet was quick to move over to her and unclamp the jumper cables from her and then he proceeded to scanning her. He didn't look at Optimus as he also moved over to help stable her balance as he just looked her over. "Oh. She's a little weakened from the Energon transfer but she still has enough for herself." He said, before smiling at her. "Good job, Spitfire. You did very well."

Optimus Prime smiled almost proudly at the young femme when she looked up at him. He never thought he would have felt proud for her again for what she had just done. And it seemed that many of the others didn't either because the twins and surprisingly Hot Rod started cheering the loudest as they pumped their fists up into the air. "You did great, Spitfire. Thank you." He turned to Jazz as he hopped down from the berth, standing in front of the two young Autobots, still looking a little puzzled about Spitfire but he didn't react like Mirage had done. He looked more curious about the new situation. "Welcome back, Jazz. It's good to have you back with us." He told him proudly. He paused to look down at Reno as he moved closer to them, still looking awed from what he had just witnessed. The Autobot Leader merely smiled before bending down and offering him a hand up, which he took.

Jazz just shot his Autobot Leader a surprised look as he glanced from the human in his hand and then back. "Heh, it seems I've been missing quite a while because I don't remember seeing all of these bots here at that city. I can't really recall what happened after Megabreath tore me apart. What's been going on around here? What exactly have I missed?" He asked, with amusement.

"Hm. It's expected that he doesn't know what happened after the time of his death. We should probably fill him in." Ratchet stated as he helped Bumblebee take Spitfire over to one of his medical berths so she could rest.

Optimus nodded as he just remained standing with Jazz. He knew that they should fill Jazz in immediately but they also needed to get moving. So with a glance at the others in the room, he motioned for them to take off. "Autobots, proceed with your duties. Set the perimeters. We will have more time after we've dealt with Cataclysm to celebrate Jazz's return. I will fill everything in for our old friend." He told them. "Autobots, roll out!"

Immediately, everyone began moving after giving Jazz their greetings before they went back to what they had been doing.

"Good to have ya back, Jazz! We'll catch up later, mech!" Sideswipe called over before he turned and hurried out of the room with Sunstreaker, who had dumped Maggie onto his shoulder, ignoring her annoyed protests about staying in the Medic bay.

"Cataclysm?" Jazz asked, raising a metal eyebrow before grimacing. "Dude, Optimus. What the Pit have I missed?"

Chuckling, Optimus reached over and patted Jazz on the shoulder before he began to fill him in on everything. He began to explain to him of everything that had been happening after the Lieutenant had been ripped apart, and even explained to him of Megatron's demise, which came as a major surprise to the saboteur. He even introduced Reno to his Lieutenant, who was greeting Mikaela's uncle with a salute, who just waved at him, grinning.

Bumblebee was still standing beside Spitfire while Ratchet was making more examinations over her before getting into one of his cabinets and pulling out a tube of glowing green energy and handing it to her. "Consume this Energon, Spitfire. This should help revive your energy at least a little." He told her.

Spitfire nodded as she took it and began downing it slowly. She turned her optics back onto her best friend, pausing to glance at Sam, Mikaela, Elena and Trent as they approached with the help of Jetfire. They could barely hear Optimus telling Jazz what was going on at the moment and they almost had to smile to hear his surprised remarks.

"Spitfire, are you going to be okay?" Elena asked, looking up at her Guardian with concern.

The Femme smiled down at her as she reached down and cupped her hand gently around Elena in a very comforting way. "I will be fine." She then arched an eyebrow at Arcee and Hot Rod as they approached her, smiling meekly. "How long have you been standing there when I was with Bumblebee?" She asked, playfully stern.

Both Autobots and the three teenagers, minus Trent and Anya smiled sheepishly as they glanced at one another. "Sorry, Spit. It was my idea. But we were there the entire time." The violent purple Femme simply explained.

Both, Spitfire and Bumblebee felt their cooling systems kick on from the embarrassment as they slouched their shoulders. They couldn't believe that they had actually spied on them. They knew that they would never live it down. But more or less, the fiery red Autobot looked right at Hot Rod, who was hanging back a little. "Hot Rod, I don't think I ever did..." She started to say.

"Don't even apologize, Spitfire." Hot Rod interrupted a weak smile on his face as he shifted his weight. "It's me who should say that I was sorry. I've been treating you like slag all this time and I really shouldn't have done it. You're one of us. An Autobot. Yeah, you betrayed us." He quickly held up his hand when Spitfire looked away, shame in her optics again. "But, you were doing it to save the mech you cared most about. I..." He sighed heavily. "I probably would have done the same for Arcee." He told her.

Arcee frowned at him, while the others smiled and shook their heads. "Hot Rod, usually that would be flattering and it wins you at least four brownie points. But you don't you ever betray Optimus for me. Got that? You do that, and I will kill you myself." She told him before her optics softened and she reached over and slugged him in the arm, earning a sheepish grin from him. "But thanks though."

Everyone laughed as Hot Rod ducked his head down and they heard his cooling fans kick in, announcing his robotic blush. Trent, however, glanced from Bumblebee and Spitfire, looking rather curious. "So...you guys are like together now?" He asked curiously.

Both Spitfire and Bumblebee glanced at one another, meeting each other's optics before they smiled at one another and nodded to the young teen. "Yes. We have connected. So I guess...I guess you can say we're together." The fiery red femme stated as she held out her hand towards the young Scout.

Mikaela, Elena and even Anya had nearly started giggling when they watched Bumblebee reach over and take Spitfire's hand, holding it gently in his own. "Awwww!" They all said at once.

"HA!" Jazz suddenly burst out, jabbing a finger towards them. He, obviously, had been looking over at them and got the sudden picture that Bumblebee and Spitfire had connected. "Yes! I knew it! I win that betting pool! Ironhide, you and Chromia both owe me and Arcee fifty gallons of Energon!" He exclaimed throwing a fist up into the air.

Somewhere from within the base, though they didn't know where, they heard a distant growl that obviously belonged to Ironhide. "Shut up, Jazz!" They heard the muffled shout. Again, everyone laughed.

Suddenly, alarms began blaring out throughout the entire base, making everyone jump and look around in alarm.

"Oh, slag. That doesn't sound good." Jazz stated as he immediately whirled his cannon blaster outward and looked around with everyone. "Not even alive for more than ten minutes and we're already getting attacked."

"WARNING! WARNING! THERE HAS BEEN A BREECH IN THE AUTOBOT BASE! A DECEPTICON SIGNATURE HAS BEEN DETECTED WITHIN THE BASE! WARNING! WARNING!" Teletraan's voice began to blare out through the speakers over the loud alarms.

Everyone in the medic bay, more or less, the entire base began to charge their weapons and prepare for the sudden battle. No one liked the sound of this. Optimus frowned deeply before quickly reaching up to tap his communications system. "Optimus Prime to Ironhide! Check our prisoner! Somehow, I get the feeling that this deals with him!" He ordered through the link.

"Ironhide to Optimus Prime! Already on it!" came the loud gruff voice of the Weapons Specialist and then he cut the link.

Optimus quickly looked around at the young Autobots, Ratchet and Jazz, looking as grave as he could. "Spitfire, if you need more rest, take it. Everyone else, begin searching the base! Find out who has infiltrated the Dam!" He ordered.

"Yes, Optimus Prime, Sir!" Everyone immediately barked out before they hurried towards the door.

Spitfire and Bumblebee, as well as Jetfire were nearly the only ones who stayed in the medic bay, looking around at everyone before turning their optics onto Optimus, who was already taking swift strides towards the door. "Sir, I can't just sit here and wait to hear what's happening." Spitfire immediately stated as she hopped down from the medic berth, pausing as a dizzying wave rolled over her. She had to lean on Bumblebee for a moment to steady herself.

Optimus stopped to look at her before shaking his head. "Spitfire, you just used most of your Energon to revive Jazz. You have earned your time to rest. Use it to do so. We will handle this. You guard our human friends. My young friends, please just stay here while we handle this." He paused for a moment to glance side wards at Reno.

Reno, however, shook his head as he just sat right on the Autobot Leader's shoulder, holding onto one of the smoke pipes sticking out of his shoulders. "Hey, I'm going with you, Optimus. I told you. I want to fight beside you." He told him simply.

Giving a light huff, Optimus nodded before he looked at Jetfire, who was carefully setting Anya down beside Trent. The young woman looked rather worried as he started to back away but he shook his head at here. "Stay here, Sparkling. You'll be safer here. I will be right back. I promise." He told her. He waited for her to nod before he turned and hurried after Optimus Prime, already whirling his cannon blasters out.

Bumblebee, however, paused for a moment to look at Spitfire, who looked like she was going to protest. But he shook his head at her. "Please, Spit. Just stay here for now. You need rest." He told her.

Sighing, Spitfire leaned back on the berth. She didn't like the idea that Bumblebee was going to run off into the heat of battle and she having to have to stay there because she was weakened at the moment. But she knew that she still needed to gather her strength for the upcoming battle. "Just be careful, Bee. Don't get hurt." She told him, giving his hand a light squeeze.

Bumblebee nodded before looking at Sam. "Guard her for me, Sam." He told him.

Sam just smiled at him, knowing that there wasn't much that he could do. But he would do anything he could to do as his best friend had said. "I will. Just listen to her and be careful. Don't get yourself hurt, Bee." He stated.

The Autobot Scout nodded before he turned and hurried out of the medic bay, leaving six humans and one Autobot Femme very worried about what the outcome of this battle was going to be. It wasn't even a few moments later before Spitfire let out a sharp gasp, making everyone turn sharply to see her bent over, clutching at her chest plate. Her optics were very wide with alarm and fear as if she had just received a sudden transmission.

"Spitfire? What is it?" Elena gasped, moving over until she wrapped her arms around her Guardian's.

Spitfire just stared down at the ground, breathing hard as the terrible thought crossed her processor. She just shook her head, as she just stared in horror. "He's here." She found herself choke out.

The second those words were out of her mouth, an explosion rocked the entire Hoover Dam, sending Soldiers and a few Autobots crashing to the floor or against the walls as debris began to fall from above. The six young humans on the berth sitting beside Spitfire were knocked off their feet, though Anya had been standing a bit too close to the edge.

Gasping and shrieking at the same time, she began to fall right over the edge, making the others gasp as they spun around to watching her fall. It was Trent who reacted first, diving over to the side and catching her by the wrist before she fell too far. He, however, almost went over after her, yelping as he started to slide over until Sam and Mikaela both quickly grabbed a hold of his legs, pulling at him hard to keep him from going over the edge.

"Whoa!" Trent cried out as he felt himself sliding but he did his best to hold tightly to Anya's wrist, while she started screaming. "Hold on! I got ya!"

Spitfire quickly leaned over and scooped them both up, pushing them back onto the berth before anything else could happen. She quickly looked them over for any possible injuries before standing up straight, ignoring the dizziness that nearly overwhelmed her again. Her other arm spun into her blaster, looking ready to fire at any possible threat. "Slag. It's Cataclysm. He's come too soon." She announced as she pushed steadied herself against the berth.

Elsewhere in the base, Scourge was hurrying as fast as he could through the shaking halls. He had felt the first wave of Cataclysm's attack like everyone else and had nearly fallen over. He had managed to catch himself against the wall while looking wildly around, noting that there were American soldiers now running around with a few of the Autobots.

His burning red optics darkened before he decided to activate his holographic molecular imager, letting it disguise him. But unlike before, he wasn't using the image of Domovoi Korbacs as his disguise. His image melted into Vladimir Karpos instead before he took off running, trying to blend into the rushing crowd of humans. He needed to find the first door out of the base before anyone noticed that he was not one of them.

That was when he ran smack dab into someone, nearly knocking them off their feet. He even stumbled back, raising a hologram of a weapon at who he just run into. He quickly lowered it again when he saw that it was the Weapons Specialist's human, Will Lennox.

"Be careful where you're going, soldier! We're under attack! Just steady yourself and you'll be fine!" Lennox barked at him before he turned and rushed away from him.

Scourge didn't trust himself to say anything so he just nodded and dove through the rushing Soldiers, heading straight for the main hangar doors. He kept looking around, watching as a few Autobots were rushing right by him. He had tensed up a little when they went clean over him but they didn't seem to notice his presence at all as he just kept running towards the open night air.

"Optimus!" The very sound of the Weapons Specialist roaring out made him pause to glance over his shoulder. He spotted the large black Autobot hurrying into the hangar, looking straight at the 28 foot Autobot Leader as he quickly entered the shaking room. "Optimus! Scourge is gone! He's loose somewhere!"

Smirking to himself, Scourge dipped his head into a nod as he slid along the wall right through the doors. "Yes I am, Ironaft." He murmured to himself before he turned sharply and dove for a rocky cliff. It was up the rocky side did he begin climbing as fast as he could, making his escape just as another explosion rocked the entire mountain from another attack that Cataclysm had sent into.

At the top of the cliff, where he could see the humongous truck sitting between a crevice, firing off missiles from its side, Scourge paused to let Vladimir's image melt away. He lift his arm and pushed a button there, activating the virus device he had connected to the computer mainframe, as well as the self destructive program, causing another explosion. This one sent a large crack through the Hoover Dam, letting some water beginning to spill over the edge.

Once that was done, he turned and began hurrying away from the cliff side, moving towards his large companion.

It wasn't even very long before Scourge quickly approached the large Lieberr, who stopped firing upon the Autobot base. He stood right up, looking up at the large grill with a smirk on his face before turning around to look back at the damaged structure of stone. "Well, I'm glad you could join me. Shall we begin the next wave of attack right now since they've been blind sided?" He asked, his arms starting to while into their blaster cannons.

"No. Now we wait until they've caught their breath. Call for the others and have them come join us. We begin the next wave of attack at dawn." The powerful, dark voice echoed right out of the large truck.

Scourge nodded as he powered down his cannons and touched the orange insignia within his chest plate. "Yes, My Lord." He simply stated as he began the call for his Sweeps and Cyclonus. He just could not wait for dawn to approach. This was going to be fun.

 

Further off away from the base, Starscream stood on the far side of the Nevada Mountain with Thundercracker, Skywarp and even Barricade, watching as smoke rise from the attacked Autobot Base. Neither of them said a word as they had watched as Cataclysm began his attack on the Autobots. And normally, they would have been cheering him on.

But none of them were at this point.

Red optics glaring off into the darkness, the temporarily Decepticon Leader just watched with a grim look upon his face. He knew should have been thanking Cataclysm for weakening the Autobots heavily like he just done. But he had to remember, the giant Decepticon slash Minicon was even a threat to him and the other Decepticons.

"Starscream, should we join the attack on the Autobots now?" Thundercracker asked, looking over at his Commanding Officer.

For now, he was serving as Starscream's Third in Command while Soundwave was the Second in Command. There had been a serious debate about who ranked who. But Starscream had slammed his foot down about the entire deal. He had decided to make Soundwave the Second in Command, due to the fact that he was a pretty serious Decepticon Warrior and could easily take Thundercracker for the position. He knew it would be a matter of time before the large Communications Officer decided to stab him in the back since he was loyal only to Megatron and no one else. It had taken some time to even convince the cruel mech to even serve under Starscream's command at the moment. They knew it wouldn't last if they did continue their plot on reviving Megatron from the depths of the ocean. They knew that once Megatron had risen, it would all go back to the way it was before.

For a long time, Starscream didn't answer but glared off at the dark Hoover Dam serving as the Autobot base. He was considering on his options. He knew very well that if they attacked the Autobots now, they would be completely blind to their approach. This would be the perfect opportunity to finish them off.

But something was holding the Seeker back. He knew what it was too and he cursed himself for it.

"No." Starscream finally answered after a long time of glaring. He turned away and looked each of the Decepticons over with a serious look upon his face. "We proceed with our former plans. We need to bring Megatron up as soon as possible and find a way to revive him. The sooner we get him back on line, the better for us. I am not going to let that son of a glitch, Cataclysm order us around." He growled. "Mobilize the Decepticons and get him up to the surface! I want Scalpel and Hook working on him immediately as soon as he's out of the water!"

The other Decepticons nodded before both of the other Seekers blasted off the ground, leaving Starscream and Barricade remaining there. The saboteur Commander just turned his burning gaze back onto Starscream, frowning at him. "Why in the name of Primus are we not taking this opportunity to attack the Autobots, Starscream?" He demanded though being careful. He knew he could take on the Seeker just fine but it was better not to piss him off more than he was at the moment.

Shooting Barricade a dark look, Starscream decided not to answer as he turned to look back at the Dam. He didn't have to explain himself to this wretched police cruiser. He had his reasons and he didn't need to say a word. "Get moving, Barricade! Don't make me tell you again!" He growled at him.

Cursing at Starscream in Cybertronian, Barricade made a swift transformation and booked it. He knew why he wasn't taking action either and it wasn't just the fact that the Seeker had some fear for Cataclysm. It was that wretched femme, Spitfire that still bothered his processor. It would have been hilarious to think that Starscream was hesitating over some stupid Autobot female if he didn't owe the Glitch his own life. He growled at the very thought but he did have a certain honor code to follow through.

Still, owing a despicable Autobot a life debt was so insulting.


	25. Second Strike

The good news was, during the sudden attack on the Hoover Dam was there were no casualties.

The bad news was, Teletraan had been destroyed, as well as the rest of the Intelligence and Communications Lab.

During the assault, everyone had been running around trying to locate the Decepticon infilitrator which stopped immediately when Ironhide announced that it had been Scourge who seemed to have triggered Teletraan's warning system. They immediately began looking for him instead. But once the Communications lab had been blown to pieces, leaving heaps of debris and destroyed computers everywhere, they realized that the attacks had halted, their selves. So it seemed that they just needed to stand guard.

Now, search and rescue parties were beginning to look for the survivors. There had been a lot of injuries, unfortunately. But it didn't seem that they lost any numbers. Ratchet was hurrying from person to person checking them and treating them with the human medics. There wasn't much he needed to do.

As for everyone who wasn't hurt, they were quickly taking in all of the damage and trying to add up the list of what had happened.

It was Hound who called Optimus and a few others to the heavily damaged area of the Base, which happened to be the Intelligence and Communications lab. They could barely even get into the room because it seemed that was where most of the explosions had happened. Most of everyone had be waiting outside while a few humans were climbing through beams and ruptured debris, looking for anyone that may have been in there.

Sam was with his parents, checking on them, as well as Lennox was with his family. Sarah and Annabelle were both in tears but they were just grateful that they weren't hurt in any way. It didn't help that they were all freaking out a little.

"Oh, man. I come back to life and all hell breaks loose." Jazz muttered as he stood right next to Optimus, waiting for the search party Communications room to give them a thumbs up or thumbs down. He knew very well that this attack had severely put the Autobots back. They didn't even know who had attacked them, though they were getting an idea because of Spitfire's announcement when she brought the young humans into the main hangar.

Optimus sighed heavily as he glanced at his Lieutenant before looking around the hangar, which was somewhat serving as a medic bay for now since some of the injured were a little critical so they couldn't be moved. This very attack reminded him so much of what happened during the war on Cybertron. Many of his Autobots had died in that war and now he was starting to fear that his human allies would do the same. He was starting to wish that they had never come to Earth, to bring this war to the humans.

"We have one!" Someone called from within the collapsed room.

Everyone's attention turned sharply towards the rubble and they waited for the search party to climb out, bringing the injured out. Almost everyone had stopped what they were doing just to watch. Even the humans had started moving over to see who had been in the Communications room when it exploded.

Ratchet was the one to move closer, since he was preparing himself to treat the injured immediately. He had his scanner out and ready to examine the injured immediately if he needed too. It took a moment for the search and rescue team to come out but when they managed to, they seemed to be dragging the injured out due to him being unconsciousness.

Of course, it didn't help when no one really recognized him.

"Hey. Who is that? I don't remember seeing him around here on the base." Hound muttered as he stared down at the sandy blonde haired man.

The injured man was unconsciousness. There was no doubt about his injuries though. He was wearing a U.S. military uniform, which was scorched on the front, probably from the explosion. He did have some blood running down the side of his head from hitting his head on something so no doubt he may have had a concussion. But otherwise he looked all right.

Optimus frowned as he looked down at the man. He didn't recognize this soldier either. But then again, he didn't know everyone that was in the entire base. This man could have just been one of the few that he had not yet spoken to or even got his name. He glanced down at Lennox and Epps to see if they knew him, but they looked just as confused as they turned to others and asked if they knew him.

And that's when Anya screamed.

"PAPA!" The young Russian screeched before trying to scamper down from Jetfire's hand. "Jetfire! Put me down! Put me down! Papa!"

The Seeker was quick to putting Anya down before she could get herself hurt. He, like everyone, was bewildered by her reaction and everyone watched as she pushed and shoved her way through the soldiers until she dropped to a crouch over the man, grabbing his shoulders. "Well, I think we know who attacked the base now. If that human is here, then Cataclysm must be just outside the base, waiting to shoot who ever comes out first." He muttered.

Everyone around him had heard his words and they looked even more uneasy. If that was the truth, that meant their enemy was just waiting for the second strike. Optimus, of course, was already reacting. He quickly looked over at Mirage, who met his optics. "Mirage, check it out. Don't engage with him if he is out there. Just observe." He told him sternly.

Mirage nodded before he turned and hurried towards the hangar. Anyone watching him got to see him melt right out view as he activated his invisiblity program. It was kind of cool if no one was already freaking out.

"Papa!" Anya cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked at him before looking up at Ratchet. "Please, help him."

Ratchet just shook his head as he ran his scanners over Vladimir Karpos, frowning at the results. "Surprisingly, he's fine. He only has a few second degree burns and at least one broken rib but it's nothing too serious. I'm surprised to see him such good condition. It looks like someone tried to shoot him with an Energon blaster but my guesses are he moved out of the way before it could hit him. His head injury is due to hitting it against something hard. He should only have a mild concussion but nothing else. We just need to bring him around." He said, bending down to one knee and reaching into one of his arm compartments. He pulled out a small capsle and moved it closer to Vladimir's face.

Breaking the salt capsle was what caused the problem, due to the moment that the Russian jerked awake, he instantly saw the giant robot bending over him through his blurry eyes. He could barely hear someone calling him Papa, but by that time he could register who it was, he panicked.

Swearing in Russian, Vladimir was scampering to his feet, pushing whoever was grabbing at his arm away from him. He frantically looked around, noting all of the robots standing around him causing him to panic more. He started shouting in Russian, looking around before noticing an M4 semi automatic lying not even a few feet away from him. He dove for it, listening to the shouts in surprise as everyone jumped back as he quickly rose it and aimed it right at the lime green robot that had been standing over him.

Even Ratchet had to quickly step back when a weapon was raised at him. He even rose his hands to show the panicking human that he wasn't going to hurt him. "Calm down, Vladimir Karpos! We are not going to hurt you!" He had to shout over the Russian's own shouts.

Looking wildly around at the robots, Vladimir backed away from anyone who were inching forward before he felt someone grab his arm. He tried to jerk away from that person and shove the gun into their face before freezing, not believing his eyes.

"Papa! Stop it! It's okay! They're not going to hurt you!" Anya shouted at her father as she tried to clutch onto his arm.

Vladimir remained staring at his daughter with shock and alarm still not believing it. He couldn't believe that his youngest child was standing right in front of him. "An-Anastasia?" He asked shakily, his hands starting to shake. He didn't even mean to accidently pull the trigger on the gun.

There were screams as everyone dove for the ground as the semi gun went off, shooting a few bullets in the direction of Anya, who also flinched away from her father, almost waiting for the sharp hot bites of the bullets to strike her. But it was at that exact moment, there was a loud metallic vibrating sound as the gun went off and the bullets went flying else where, away from Anya and the gun was wrenched right out of Vladimir's hands, startling him above everyone else.

Everyone jerked their heads around to see where the gun had gone only to see it stuck against Jazz's hand, along with the five bullets that had been fired. He was frowning deeply at the Russian, who was staring up at him with shock and fear. "Dude, calm your ass down! We don't mean you any harm!" He snapped at the human.

As soon as the gun was out of Vladimir's hands, two soldiers dove forward and nearly tackled him to ground, wrenching his arms behind his back and ignoring Anya's shouts of alarm. They just wrestled with the Russian for a moment until they had him pinned to the ground and keeping him imobilized.

Anya, however, started to move forward to stop them only to be caught by Epps. He shook his head at her before looking back at the Russian kneeling on the ground with his arms trapped. And with everyone, he watched as Will quickly moved to stand right before Vladimir, grabbing him by the front of his jacket and glaring at him. "Karpos! Stop it!" The Major shouted, not caring everyone was watching. "At ease, Comrade!" He waited till Vladimir stopped fighting before pointing a finger at him. "You will stop right now! Anya is fine! She's not hurt and the Autobots are not here to hurt her or you! Now, are you going to stop?" He demanded.

Vladimir's only answer was to glare at him and start muttering in Russian at him.

Obviously, his words were unkind because Anya's face scrunched up into frustration as she wrenched away from Epps and turned sharply around. "Papa!" She shouted, getting her father's attention. She glared at him for a moment before she whirled around and marched right over to the feet of Jetfire, looking up at him. She motioned for the Seeker to pick her up, which he slowly did, watching her father's reaction.

Vladimir didn't like it and started fighting again but the two soldiers kept him pinned down. He froze again when the giant black and red robot lift his daughter up in his hand and placed her onto shoulder, where she wrapped an arm around his neck, still staring hard at her father. "Wh-what..." The Russian muttered in alarm.

"This is Jetfire, Papa. He saved my life! He is my friend! Now you better stop right now! They don't mean us any harm!" Anya called down to him before meeting Jetfire's eyes and motioned for him to lower her again, which he did. He lowered her down right in front of her father, where she dropped down to one knee and placed her hands on either side of his face. "It's okay. These ones are good. They're here to help us." She reassured him.

Finally, Vladimir went slack and the two soldiers released him when Will nodded to them. The moment they let go of him, he threw his arms around his daughter and pulled her into a tight hug. "My bebe! I am so sorry! I di-didn't mean to fire..." He cried out, burying his face into her hair. He felt her arms wrap tightly around him, embracing him. "Tha-that creature! It told me that it had you! It said that it was going to kill you if I didn't do as it said!" He told her quickly. "And these...these things..." He motioned all around them to all of the Autobots.

"It's okay, papa. I'm okay." Anya told him before pulling away from him, holding his hand and looking up around at the Autobots who had stepped back just to give them more room. She looked up and met Ratchet's optics, giving him a nod. "And all of them have been nothing but good to me. Please, Papa. Just trust me."

Ratchet carefully approached again, hesitating when the Russian tensed up and looked wildly up at him. He held up his hands again to show that he was unarmed before slowly bending down to his knee and slowly getting into his arm compartment, pulling out a first aid kit he had there. He carefully lowered it towards Anya, motioning to Vladimir's head. "Anya, we have to stop the bleeding. He's in no danger but I'd rather not take the chance." He told her quietly.

Anya nodded as she reached up and took the kit from him before getting into it and pulling out antiseptic and a rag. She dumped some on the rag before pressing against her father's head, earning a sharp Russian curse as he tried to jerk away from it. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his head, pushing the rag against it again. "Stop being such a baby, papa! Yes, it hurts! But I'm not going to let you bleed to death!" She snapped at him.

Vladimir grimaced at her, now ignoring the chuckles starting to arise all around him. "You are so much like your mother." He grumbled, earning more laughs.

"Vladimir Karpos," Optimus Prime finally spoke, slowly moving forward a few steps forward but stopping when the Russian tensed up again. "I am Optimus Prime. The Leader of the Autobots. We have been protecting Anya from the Decepticons, the ones responsible for her abduction. She has been safe with us."

"Adbuction?" Vladimir asked in alarm looking at his youngest child.

Again, Anya rolled her eyes and shook her head as she went back to cleaning his head wound before using a dry gauze against the injury. "It's a long story, Papa. But short version, when you sent me those messages, I actually tried to get to the American Government and I was kidnapped by the Sweeps, the bad robots." She paused to glance over her shoulder at Jetfire who was watching them carefully. "Jetfire saved my life from them and did everything he could to protect me from them. He brought me to the Americans and the Autobots so that I could warn them about the Typhoon, which apparently is now a big construction truck." She told him.

Slowly nodding, Vladimir took in the information before he slowly climbed to his feet with Anya's help and looked directly at Will. "I'm taking it that you're the Commander here." He recieved a shrug as the answer before he looked up at Optimus. "The strange monster...or truck is right outside of the Dam. He told me he wasn't going to attack until his men arrived. He just sent me in here to free one of his comrades from the brigg." He told them.

"Scourge." Some of the Autobots grumbled, not looking happy.

Hound slowly took a step forward, merely glancing towards the heavily damaged Communications room before looking back at the Russian. "What did he do to the computer mainframe? Did he set an explosive?" He asked, frowning.

Vladimir tensed when Hound spoke to him but he nodded as his eyes flickered over to the collapsed room. "Yes and no. He...also connected some kind of device to the large computer. I believe it was a virus. He wasn't suppose to set it off until he left but I attacked him from behind and he tried to shoot me with this strange weapon of his. He didn't get me but he managed to knock me right off the computer keyboard. That's how I became unconsciousness. I must have hit my head and blacked out." He told them.

"Slag!" Hound hissed looking at Optimus, who looked back. "Teletraan. That must have been Scourge's target. He's crippled Teletraan so that we can't see which way they're going to attack us. We won't even be able to contact any of Autobots that are Earth Bound. They won't know where to find us."

"Unless," A meek, young voice spoke up, making everyone turn to see Blaster inching out from behind a wall. With him speaking again, everyone who had yet to hear him talk looked very surprised. He cringed back a little when everyone started looking at him but he then dove over to where Epps was standing and stood behind him instead. His actions just made the human Communications Officer just smile as he lightly patted him on the head, making a few smile. "I can send out a signal, Sir. See if I pick up anything. I caught...I caught a slight transmission before the attack. I believe...I believe Wheeljack and Prowl are the closest. They're just near the Planet Mars and should be arrive some time tomorrow." He told them.

"YES!" Jazz suddenly cheered, throwing his fists up into the air. "Whoo-hoo! Prowlie's coming!"

Everyone just laughed and shook their heads, while Optimus looked a little pleased to hear that. He just nodded to Blaster. "Send the transmission to them. Tell them to come in immediately. But we can not wait for them to arrive. We must take care of Cataclysm immediately. If he is right outside the Base, he needs dealt with. We cannot wait for him to wait for the Sweeps or Cyclonus. Or any of the Decepticons that will aid him. We must attack now and defend the Base." He looked around at all of the Autobots, who immediately straightened and looked ready for their orders. "Autobots, prepare for battle. We're rolling out in ten minutes." He looked down at the other human civilians. "Our human allies and friends, you're to remain in the Base where you will be safe. We will deal with this. If things start looking bad, begin an evacuation immediately." He told them.

The only replies he got were nods and salutes as everyone began to move at the same time. There was a threat right outside the base and they needed to take care of it before it became a big problem with the civilians.

"So, I'm guessing that this Prowl and Wheeljack arriving is a good thing." Epps said as he kept one hand on Blaster's head.

The young Communications Officer looked up at him and nodded, almost smiling. "Yes, sir!" He piped up.

"Prowl's the Second in Command of the Autobots." Ironhide grunted, looking around at everyone who looked just as curious as Epps. Everyone was wondering the same thing about the two Autobots that Blaster mentioned. "He's a serious piece of work. More serious than Mirage. He's the Master Chief of Security and comes up with most of the rules for us to follow. And Wheeljack's the Chief Scientist. He's brilliant if not destructive by accident."

"What do you mean?" Reno asked as he stood right next to Optimus, folding his arms across his chest. "Destructive by accident? Should we be worried?"

Optimus was the one who chuckled as he looked down at Reno. "Wheeljack is rather accident prone. All the while he is a brilliant scientist and many of his inventions have brought some use to us in the war against the Decepticons, sometimes things go wrong and some of them tend to...well..." He was saying, grimacing a little at the thought.

Ratchet scoffed loudly as he leaned up against a wall, rolling his optics. "That Autobot scientist tends to make a minor mistake in his inventions and they blow up. I can't tell you how many times I have had to put him back together because he blows himself up." He grumbled. "Speaking of which, he better not come Earth Bound in seveal pieces as he usually tends to whatever he's doing."

"Well that can't be good." Epps chuckled.

"Enough chitchat!" Ironhide grumbled as he straightened. "We got Cataclysm to worry about right now. So let's get to it."

Optimus nodded, growing serious again as he straightened and looked around at all of the Autobots and the human soldiers. "Ironhide is right. Let's go greet our guest. We'll go out the side hangar so that Cataclysm won't see us coming out. Autobots, roll out!" He ordered.

And again, everyone jumped into action.

Vladimir was among the teenagers, yet looking very worried. He didn't trust these giant alien robots but it seemed that they were trying to risk their lives to protect the humans. He was more worried about his daughter though, now tugging at her arm as he moved after Will and Epps. "Commander Lennox, I must get Anya to a safe place." He ignored the annoyed protest from his 19 year old daughter as he kept her hand trapped within his own. "Where is the best place for us to stay until this travesty passes over?" He asked.

Will glanced over at Vladimir as he went back to loading his high powered rifle with saber rounds before shaking his head. "Being in the Dam itself will be safe enough, Comrade Karpos. The Autobots will protect it from this Cataclysm as much as possible and we won't let it be destroyed with all of our families as it is. But if you really want to feel safe, you can go down to the safe rooms with everyone else." he told him. He looked over at Monique Epps, for she was wishing her husband luck. "Monique, you mind escorting Karpos and his daughter down to the safe room with you?"

Monique looked over at him before nodding. "Sure. Come on." She told Vladimir, beckoning him to follow her.

Vladimir nodded as he started to follow but Anya lightly pulled back and he turned to look at her with a frown. She only shook her head as she glanced over her shoulder at Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena before looking back at him. "Papa, I'm going to walk with my new friends." She told him.

The Russian frowned but slowly nodded as he watched her walk away from him and over to the other teenagers. He had to narrow his eyes a little in thought when he watched Anya smile at Trent, when he greeted her with a wave. He had never really seen her smile like that before. Especially to a boy. But then again, he was never really around her much while being in the Russian Naval Forces. He had always been on the submarine and mostly visited his family one week a month or once a week. He didn't even know if she had a boyfriend yet.

But, by the looks that she was giving the American boy, Trent, he knew that might change pretty soon. He didn't like it. It was his fatherly duties to check out the boy first before allowing any relationship between his daughters.

Vladimir Karpos would definitely need to have a talk with this boy and find out more about him.

But for now, he was going to keep his mouth shut until he saw the boy making a move for his daughter. He could already see that the boy was interested by the way he was smiling at her. He would definitely need to have a talk with this guy. He would definitely have to try and see what Trent's intentions were for his daughter.

"Guys." Elena was the one to say to the other four as they watched the Autobots and the American Soldiers starting to roll right out of the base through the hanger doors. "I want to see what this Catalysm guy looks like. See what we're up against."

Sam and Mikaela merely glanced at one another, almost grimacing. They weren't sure if that was a good idea. But then again, they looked just as curious as the others did. Trent even nodded a little as he glanced at them. "Yeah. Me too. That Russian guy," He grimaced looking at Anya apologetically. She didn't look bothered though. She actually smiled at him, letting him know that she wasn't offended. "Uh, Vladimir said that Catalysm was really big. If our usual Autobot friends are big, exactly how big is he?" He asked.

With a sigh and a nod, Sam took the lead, motioning for everyone to follow. "Okay. Let's go check him out. But let's be careful. When these guys have their robot battle royale, it's not pretty. Especially when we end up in it." He told them.

So all of them snuck off without anyone noticing and headed to the main entrance and stand right on top of the Dam to watch the entire fight. Of course getting outside and looking around for the so called BIG giant robot, they just did not see him.

Yet.

It was Optimus Prime that lead the Autobots and the human military out the hangar. They all drove a little ways from the Dam, not seeing their enemy just yet. But they sure sensed him on their radars. He was there somewhere. And it was making everyone just a little tense. The human soldiers could almost feel how tense that the Autobots were getting. Above everyone, Jetfire had pretty flown out of the hangar before transforming and dropping heavily on one of the cliffs near the Dam. He was staring off somewhere, and judging the glare in his red optics, he saw the enemy somewhere ahead. And that did not help the tenseness of the situation.

Reno, who was actually riding with Optimus in his cab, was also feeling the intensity of anxiety that was even running through the Autobot leader. He could tell that the big guy was not happy about the confrontation they were about to face.

"Optimus?" The car dealer spoke up. His only reply was an acknowledging hum, as if Optimus was listening to him but keeping an eye out for Catalysm. "Optimus, is this guy really bad?"

There was only brief pause before Optimus heaved an airbrake like sigh. "Yes, Reno. I believe he is. I have not had the chance to face him, myself. But from what I've learned, he is very bad. It was Sentinel Prime that told me about him. He's a vicious character. He prides himself on tearing Cybertronians apart. Slowly." He said quietly.

Reno slowly nodded, though he fought back a shudder that was threatening to crawl up his spine. He didn't like the sound of that. "Cybertronians? So that means...?" He asked cautiously.

"Decepticons, too. I've heard some tales about how most Decepticons annoyed Catalysm and they were torn apart. He's known to do that to anyone that annoys him. He is one of the most dangerous Minicons that follows Unicron. Why it was him that was sent here, I'm sure it's to give us an idea of how serious the situation is." Optimus told Reno with another airbrake sigh.

"Exactly how terrible is this Unicron? He sounds really bad." Reno said, reaching up and running his thumb against his unshaven chin. It was something he sometimes did when he was starting to get very nervous.

Again, Optimus paused for a brief moment. But it was in that moment that gave Reno the idea that he was trying to find the right words of how to describe Unicron. He didn't want to scare the human, but he knew it was better to be honest with him. "He's not known as the Star Devourer for nothing, Reno. He's destroyed many stars and planets with life on them. And he will destroy Earth if we can't stop him." He said with another sigh.

Reno couldn't hold back the shudder this time. He could only imagine what exactly this Unicron had done in the past whatever hundreds of years. He found that he couldn't. But his imagination was only making him picture total destruction and it was making him quite afraid to imagine what would happen if Unicron went to Earth.

Optimus felt the human's shudder and started to slow only a little. He could sense the fear starting to build up within Reno Banes and it was starting to make him wonder if he should have tried harder to make him stay back at the Dam. "Would you like me to pull over so you could go back to the base? You don't need to come, Reno. If it's making you that uncomfortable, it's all right..." He was saying.

"No!" Reno said suddenly before grimacing. He forced a smile and lightly patted the semi truck's steering wheel. "No. It's okay, Optimus. Just getting some weird thoughts. Scary thoughts. But I meant what I said back there. I'm with you all the way. I don't know how big of a help I'm going to be to you, but I'll do whatever I can to help you. I'd rather die fighting than staying back and being afraid, waiting for whatever terrible fate is waiting for me. I can't let the rest of these guys, the army guys, risk their lives without me at least watching their back. And I can't let you fight without watching yours. I might be human, but I'm behind you all the way, big guy."

There came a light humm from within Optimus' engine before it started to feel quite comfortably warm within his cab. It was almost as if Reno could feel the smile that the Autobot Leader was trying to show. "You are a very brave human, Reno. I greatly appreciate it that you would think of me so. Even if we only met a few days before today. And I give you my word, I will watch your back, as well." He told Reno, who grinned.

But that grin was off his face once they rounded the corner about a mile away from the Hoover Dam and he saw that humongous dump truck just waiting for the Soldiers; Autobots and humans. He felt as if his eyes were going to bug out of his head if he widened his eyes any more. He was sure that his jaw was touching his chest as he stared at the huge machine with shock. And he knew that he wasn't the only one.

"Oh, shit." Reno couldn't stop the curse from leaving his mouth.

"Your words exactly." Optimus said, sounding way too serious. He seemed alarmed, himself of the size of Catalysm. He had never seen Catalysm for himself but just seeing the size of his mode form, he knew they were all in for a rough ride. He even heard some curses from his Autobots, knowing they were just as uneased as he was. He could feel it. His connection with his soldiers was telling him that.

All of the Autobots inched a little closer until they were half a mile away from the giant dump truck, all eyes watching him carefully. The humans within the Autobots were quick to jumping out before they stared wide eyed at the huge truck sitting almost innocently away from them.

Letting out a long whistle, Epps shook his head as he stood right next to Mirage. He was cradling his M4 rifle close to him as he stared at the large truck. "I'm guessing this is a very big guy." He remarked. "Makes me wonder exactly how big he is."

And then he got his answer.

As if the large dump truck heard the question, a loud metallic whoosh escaped from the airbrakes from the truck before it began to move and shift. The Lieberr truck began to twist and turn, forming large arms off to the sides and starting to rise up higher than it usually stood. It kept shifting and transforming until the Minicon finally stood up to his full height. And many jaws fell as heads craned back to get a good look at its face.

"Minicon, my ass." was Reno the one who said, dumbstruck of the size that Catalysm was. It was almost difficult for even him to see its towering face. "That's a Bigcon."

And just as Catalysm transformed into his bipedal form, the Autobots were quick to doing the same, training their cannons onto their enemy. They all looked pretty tense about facing him. They were mere ants compared to this guy. Even Optimus was much smaller than him and he was the biggest out of the Autobots. He was even bigger than Jetfire and he was nearly the same size as him.

Once finished transforming, Catalysm looked on the Autobots and humans with his blood red optics and almost sneered at their numbers. He may have been out numbered but his size was greater than theirs. They would definitely need all the help they could get to take him down.

His optics finally trailed over Optims and he again sneered. But it seemed to fade only but a little as he let his attention fall upon Jetfire and a growl escaped from him. He did not seem pleased to see the Legendary Seeker. "Jetfire, Legend of Planet Cybertron. We meet again." He spoke in a very cold but sinister voice that sent shivers down each and every American Soldier's back. It was such a chilling thing to even hear coming out of this monster.

Jetfire dipped his head a little low before he hopped right off the cliffs and landed heavily on the ground, causing it to shake quite a bit. "Catalsym, your ugly as ever." He said, almost in harsh amusement. It only earned a nasty growl from the giant.

But that was strike one against the Minicon's pride.

"You're one to talk. I hear you've gone soft." Catalysm struck right back, smirking coldly at him. He recieved a growl right back from the Seeker. "Cyclonus has told me you now have a human pet. Such an ugly little human. But then again, all humans look the same."

Jetfire merely narrowed his optics to deadly slits, as a snarl erupted from his chest plate and moved right out of his voice processor. "Don't you ever call Anya that again, Catalsym. It looks like I'm going to have remind what happens when you cross me. This is not the first time you and I have clashed. And the last time I looked, I'm the one who tore you to pieces during the Cybertron Games." He said rather acidly. "Oh, by the way, Scourge failed to kill the Russian, Vladimir Karpos."

Catalysm's optics flashed only once before he growled very loudly and turned his head downward towards his giant feet to look at Scourge who had been standing right behind him. The serpentine Pretender and Sweep Master looked rather surprised at the revelation about Vladimir and quite angry. But more or less, he shot a nervous glance up to the much larger Minicon and cringed back to see the acid like look he was giving him. "I will talk to you later. For now, call the Sweeps!" The giant growled.

Scourge merely nod before he jerked his head in a different direction and a high pitched noise blasted out of him. It was more like a very annoying sonic screech, causing many humans to wince of how deafening it was.

"Autobots!" Optimus suddenly barked, shooting every one of his soldiers a commanding look. "Let's roll! Take them down quickly!"

Immediately, many shouts erupted all around the battle field before the Autobots began to fire their cannon blasters at Catalysm, who jerked with the first few hits before snarling and lashing up his own many cannons he seemed to have built in with his arms and even his legs.

"Soldiers! Fire when ready! Bring in the rain and help the Autobots take out the big guy! Get that snake if you can!" Will Lennox shouted, even through his radio so that everyone could hear. And along with the Autobots, the humans began their fire upon Cataslym and Scourge.

Explosions of guns and fiery trails of cannon blasts decorated the entire battle field as they all attacked the giant. But even as their attacks on them even began, the sky almost darkened as cloud of Sweeps came right over the cliffs and sped towards the Autobots and the human Soldiers. There nearly fifty Sweeps joining in with the attack, lead a violent purple Falcon 2000 lead them for the attack. It came screaming through the air before making a quick transformation and dropping heavily on the Nevada Desert ground and began firing at any Autobots Cyclonus could.

With loud clicks and twin roars of engines, both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had transformed back into their car forms before speeding across the desert floor away from the humans. They kicked up a lot of dust around them as they sped towards Cyclonus before they suddenly transformed back into their bipedal forms. It was Sunstreaker first as he began sliding across the ground, digging one hand deep into the dirt to stop himself quickly. He jerked his head towards his twin brother as he transformed just as quickly before leaping into the air and coming down on his brother's back.

"Watch the paint!" The bright yellow Autobot growled before using all of his strength to throw Sideswipe off of him into the air.

"Oh, shut up! We're in a fight, Sunny! It's gonna get scratched anyway! You can repaint yourself when we're done!" Sideswipe growled back before leaping high into the air and sailing towards Cyclonus while his back was turned. "JET JUDO!" He bellowed.

Cyclonus jerked around when he heard that but it was too late to do something about it as Sideswipe crashed against his back, sending him staggering a little. It was mere seconds later before a ten foot blade shot out of the Autobot's arm and sliced into Cyclonus' armor, causing him to roar in anger and pain before getting a blast of fire from Sunstreaker's fire rods. He snarled in irritating before trying to throw Sideswipe off of him and shooting after him with his cannon blasters.

Before the blast could hit Sideswipe, something collided with him and jerked him out of the way before dropping him to the ground. He landed heavily on his wheels, merely glancing thankfully up at Jetfire as he did a quick flip in the air and he was off to attacking Cyclonus with Sunstreaker again.

All the while, Jetfire barrel rolled in the air as a blast came very close to hitting him. He jerked his fiery red glare onto Catalysm who had fired at him. With only a growl, he blasted higher into the air to begin firing at him, only to get intercepted by several Sweeps.

All of the Autobots were moving as quickly as they could to attack either Cataslym or the Sweeps, seeing that the twins were aggravating Cyclonus with their speedy attacks on him. They all knew why they had chose to attack him instead of the much bigger Minicon. It was the fact that he was a Seeker. Other than Jetfire, Seekers were their specialty.

The battle was intense.

It probably did not help because of Cataslym's massive size and being loaded with blast cannons and what seemed to be electric cannons. Balls of electricity were shooting out of other cannons and nearly hitting many of the Autobots. One clipped Ironhide as he was sending blast after blast at the Minicon, or in Reno's words, Bigcon. He was sent spinning on his feet, having to jump to avoid falling on human Soldiers.

It was nearly impossible to hit the Sweeps because of how fast they were flying all around the Autobots' heads. They were like annoying mosquitos buzzing around them and slashing at any Autobot they came near.

There were nearly ten of them flying around Optimus and taking hits off of him. He was doing pretty well to avoiding them but it was very difficult for him to even hit one with his hot red and orange sword. To anyone paying attention, it looked like the plans flying around King Kong, shooting at him. One landed on Optimus head and went for his optics, trying to blind him.

But there was an explosion of gunfire and its head exploded from the impact of a gun.

Optimus quickly looked down to where the gun fire had come from and was almost pleased to see Reno taking pot shots off Sweeps, and hitting them. He was a great shot. He wore a very serious and deadly look on his face as he quickly aimed at any Sweep he could and shooting them. He caught Optimus' gaze and gave him a quick smile and a wink. "I told you I got your back!" He called to him.

The Autobot Leader had to return it before lashing out his cannon and shooting a Sweep that was diving at the human. Reno had flinched a little at the near miss of his cannon but he looked to see a Sweep fall in pieces behind him. He looked back up at Optimus, who nodded with an almost grin. "I got yours, too, my friend!" The Autobot Leader called back before he jerked back around and began joining Reno into taking out any Sweeps he could. He was nearly standing right above Reno, almost protecting him and yet fighting alongside him into shooting the annoying flying Minicons.

All the while, five teenagers were staring with alarm at the fight they were even seeing. All of them had been shocked to see the size of Catalsm but even so as the Sweeps had joined the attack. But just watching the Autobots move through the battles was almost entrancing. All of them had seen their friends in action before, but with each battle they witnessed, it was more exciting.

"Go, Spitfire!" Elena cheered as she watched her fiery red friend shooting off at Sweeps with Bumblebee right beside her.

"Go, Bumblebee!" Sam cheered, big smiles on his face as he watched his best friend. He glanced over at the others who were watching with worry in their eyes but smiles on their faces to see how well the Autobots and the Decepticon Seeker was doing against their enemies. They were totally out numbered, if you could count Catalcysm as more than just one. But they were rocking the battle field.

Trent and Anya weren't exactly used to see such a battle like this one, though they have seen a few. But it did worry them just as much as the other three. They couldn't help but smile as their Guardians were fighting with every skill they seemed to have. "This is so cool! I can't believe this! This is so like the War of the Worlds, but...even better!" The ex-jock said, amazed.

Sam glanced at them but nodded as he watched intentively. "Don't worry, guys. It's going to be over very soon. The Autobots and the Soldiers will win! I know it! They always win!"

"You don't know anything." A cold but sinister voice spoke up from behind them.

All five jumped and whirled around to see who just said that. And they were stunned to even see that it was Scourge. They hadn't even noticed that he wasn't even on the battle field and more or less, the Autobots didn't even seem to have noticed he had been missing from the fight.

"Oh, shit!" Trent exclaimed as he grabbed Anya and Elena and pushed them behind him to protect them. It was the same with Sam and Mikaela, all wide eyed. "How did he...?"

Scourge merely grinned a sharp fanged smile at them before he snarled and lashed out his tail at the five.

Explosions rocked the Nevada desert as the Autobots attacked Catalsym and Cyclonus, seeing that most of the Sweeps have been taken down already. Now all of them and the human soldiers were focusing on tearing the nearly two remaining Minicons. They fired round after round, blowing pieces off of them.

Spitfire and Bumblebee were concentrating on finishing off the Sweeps with Hot Rod and Arcee. Hound was even helping out while everyone else was trying to take down Catalysm. The attacks were very fierce but they didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of damage. It was like the Minicon's armor was extremely thick and his cannons extremely dangerous. He was holding up very well against the many firepower being sent his way.

But it was the young Femme who seemed to notice something about Catalcysm. Her, and Jetfire as they watched from the corners of their optics as he was being fired upon. Spitfire finally tore her entire attention away from the Sweeps to look right at Catalcysm and frown. "Why is he holding back?" She asked.

"Huh?" Bumblebee asked, hearing her after shooting the last Sweep down. He turned towards here, glancing over at Catalcysm. "What do you mean, Spit?"

Shaking her head and narrowing her optics, Spitfire just stared at the giant Minicon. She seemed very confused. "Bee, Catalcysm is very dangerous. He's very powerful. He could destroy some of the Autobots easily but he hasn't done so. Yet. He's holding back. I know he is. Why is he holding back?" She asked, confused.

Bumblebee just shook his head as he quickly recharged his cannon and aimed it at the giant. "I don't know, Spitfire. But we don't have time to think about it. Let's just help take him down!" He told her before smiling at her. "Together?"

Looking at him, Spitfire was almost surprised for only a few seconds before she smiled and nodded, reaching over and lightly jabbing his arm with a light clang. "Together!" She said with determination before they both began firing upon Catalcysm.

In truth, Catalcysm was holding back and with good reason. It had been apart of his plan from the beginning. But his patience was starting to wear thin and his armor was starting to melted down because of how many times he had been shot by the annoying Autobots. It wasn't going to be very long before they began shooting him in vital areas and taking him down.

'Master, I got the human!' Scourge's transmission finally came through.

"Finally!" The giant Minicon snarled in irritation before he lashed out one huge arm and swung it downward so hard that a cloud of sand and dirt exploded into the air, making it a little harder for the humans to see what he was doing. It didn't take more than three seconds for them to find out. Especially when an explosive sonic boom sounded before an actual energy wave shot outward, hitting any Autobots in the area.

The energy wave took every single one of them by surprise as they found their selves knocked right off their feet and crashing to the ground, causing an earthquake for the human soldiers. Even Optimus went down and he caused the biggest tremor in the earth. It was even enough to make some of the humans stagger to their knees.

Spitfire had nearly fallen on top of Bumblee since he had been right behind her. But even as she did, she was suddenly yanked away from him, gasping in alarm as Catalcysm's massive hand had grabbed her by the leg and ripped her up into the air.

Bumblebee was quick to getting his knees and looking up in alarm and anger. "No! Spitfire!" He yelled before trying to stand up. Only Cyclonus was even quicker to leaping to where he was kneeling and slamming him back to the ground with a loud crash.

"BUMBLEBEE!" Spitfire cried out, having seen him getting pinned by the much bigger Cybertronian's foot. She jerked her head around to look widely at Catalcysm as he raised her up so he could look directly at her from an upside down position. She growled at him before lashing out her cannon to shoot him. She even tried to fire.

But a loud pop and sparks were her only reply before she yelped in pain as it seemed to have a back lash.

Catalcysm smirked at her before he reached out with his other hand and turned her right side up, pinning her arms to her sides. She looked more like a doll to his massive size. She tried to struggle but it was no use. "Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite little pet. It's been a very long time since I've seen you, Spitfire. How is my lovely little traitor?" He asked, with dark amusement.

Shooting him a dark look, Spitfire almost shouted at him to stuff it. But then registering his words, it caught her very off guard. She stared at him with wide optics, quite confused. "What? I am not your traitor? What are you talking about, you big tincan? You sound as if...!" She started demanding. But she cut herself off, as realization began to dawn on her. She now looked at the big Minicon with horror, almost as if breathless from fear.

"As if what, my dear traitor?" Cataclysm sneered before tilting his large head to the side and looking directly into her hot white gaze with his blood red one. "As if I'm your former Master? As if I am the one pulling the strings of this entire puppet show?" His evil smirk grew into a very sinister grin. "That's because I am, my little Spitfire. And now, you and I," He paused glancing off to the side just as a scream erupted from nearby. It definitely caught Spitfire's attention, causing her head to turn with a jerk and a sharp gasp escaped her. "And your human are going on a trip to take back what belongs to me! Megatron made a deal with me and then tried to betray me. And now, he's going to pay up for our deal."

Spitfire did not even look at him as she stared at Elena with horror, who was stuck in the iron grip of Scourge. She did not know how in the name of Primus Scourge managed to get past her, or the other Autobots but he had. And now, he was holding Elena in a painfully tight embrace, ignoring the screaming and kicking she was doing at him.

Sparks began to emit right out of the air all around Cataclysm, Scourge and Cyclonus and a nasty breeze began to pick up. It was like an electric storm had came out of nowhere. But any Autobot who seen it knew what it was, while the humans were quite confused.

"Spitfire! No!" Bumblebee exclaimed as he quickly got to his feet as soon as Cyclonus had left him to join Cataclysm's side. He was already taking several steps to go rescue Spitfire and perhaps Elena.

Spitfire turned her head sharply to look at him with alarm just as more sparks began to explode all around her and her captor. She looked terrified. Purely terrified. "Bumblebee! It's him!" She managed to scream before there was a loud explosion of blinding sparks and all of them were gone.

"No!" The Scout cried out, reaching out for Spitfire.

But it was too late. She and Elena were gone with the three dangerous Minicons.


	26. The Worse To Come

Getting past many human Naval vessels were one thing, bringing up a nearly sixty ton metellic skeleton was another.

It took many hours for them to even locate their lord and master on the bottom of the ocean but they finally found him. They couldn't say he was in exactly one piece but they had found him and now they had to get him past the many submarines guarding the area. Of course, a few they had to blow up to get past.

Finally, they got Lord Megatron up out of the water, sitting on a vacant beach where two Decepticons were immediately beginning the repairs.

Standing off to the side, glaring at the corpse of the Decepticon Leader, Starscream was so very tempted of just deciding not to revive him and just destroy his metal frame. He hated the idea that he needed to bring this Pitspawn back to life just to take down their true enemy. He didn't want to do this at all. He knew very well that if Megatron came back online, he would resume his Leadership title and do what he always did. Beat on the Seeker whenever he was pissed off. It was killing Starscream to think he had to rely on the Leader of the Decepticons to take down the worst possible threat.

But as he watched Hook and Scalpel working on repairing Megatron's metal frame, a metallic boom caught his attention, causing him to jerk his head around just to see an eruption of sparks. He merely growled when he saw the giant forms of Cataclysm and Cyclonus sudden appear among the sparks. This was not a good sign.

"Let go of me, you world sucking Pitspawn!"

Starscream's optics widened in surprise, and he saw everyone else look just as surprised to see the Autobot Femme trapped in the grip of Cataclysm. He couldn't believe that she was even here, more or less, horrified to see her. He almost made the mistake of stepping forward but caught himself before he could.

But there she was. Spitfire was struggling to yank herself free from the giant Minicon's grip but having no success whatsoever. She even tried to use her cannon on him but it only back sparked at her, causing her to yelp.

Cataclysm ignored her as he looked around before sneering to see Megatron's metallic corpse. He looked pleased and disgusted at the same time. But tearing his optics away from the motionless Decepticon Leader, he looked over at Starscream, who looked back almost darkly. "Starscream, you failed to report to me that you've retrieved Megatron's body already." The giant sneered.

Starscream did not reply but dipped his head into a bowing nod. He knew better than to speak illy to Cataclysm. It wasn't smart to test him.

But, apparently that wasn't what Cataclysm wanted. He growled only once before he lashed out with his giant free hand and backhanded the Seeker, causing him to fly several yards and crash to the ground. "Do not disappoint me again, Seeker!" The Minicon snarled.

"Starscream!" Spitfire yelped before she turned with a sharp jerk and began hitting at Cataclysm's hand. "You son of a Glitch!"

Cataclysm growled at her before throwing her hard to the ground, rattling her entire frame. He didn't even give her a chance to recover before slamming a foot on top of her, trapping her. He nearly laughed at her when she cried out in pain.

"Stop it! Leave her alone, you bastard!" Elena snapped, trying to fight herself free from Scourge's grip.

If Decepticons were surprised to see Spitfire, they were definitely surprised to see a human. They looked at her with alarm before disgust replaced the expression. Some even sneered at her. And some even cheered on Scourge to killing her right then and there. He didn't, of course. He just kept a tight hold on her, looking to Cataclysm for what to do.

Cataclysm, of course, ignored him and the girl as he looked around at Megatron's body, before letting his gaze flicker to Hook and Scalpel. Hook had taken some kind of crane and was using a large iron hook off his shoulder to hold Megatron's body up on his feet while Scalpel, a very small crab like Decepticon was moving from one damaged area to the next, repairing him with a small torch blower.

Of course, they had stopped when Cataclysm arrived.

"Well," Cataclysm growled at them, causing them to jump only a little. "Is he finished or not?" Hook and Scalpel glanced at one another before looking over at Starscream, who only dipped his head down lower. He was looking down at Spitfire though, almost darkly as if he was not happy to see her at all. "Don't you be looking at that pitiful Seeker! I am the one in charge here! Now answer me!"

"He needs more parts. All of his pieces are not here." Hook said, his low and monotonous voice a little grim as usual.

Cataclysm nodded sharply as he looked directly at him. "How long will that take?" He merely growled. He was ignoring Spitfire as she tried to bang against his foot and tried to wriggle free from being under it.

Hook shook his head as he shared a glance with Scalpel, who dared not to speak in front of Cataclysm. "Without the parts right now, it will take hours. Maybe even days." He said simply. "Repairing Lord Megatron will take a while."

"Time that we don't have." Cataclysm growled before throwing up his arm and firing a mighty loud blast. The cannon blast fired and hit a random Decepticon, sending him flying many feet away from where he had been standing. It directly in the center of his chest, offlining him immediately. "Problem solved. You now have the parts. Get him fixed, now! I want him ready to revive within the hour! The Autobots will not take long to following me here!" He snapped.

Both Hook and Scalpel nodded and quickly moved to gather the new spare parts. They did not want to infuriate Cataclysm any further. They, like most Decepticons, knew his reputation.

As for Spitfire, she was either glancing at Starscream or to Elena. She knew that this was bad. There could be only one reason why Cataclysm wanted Scourge to capture her young human and that was to use her against her. This was exactly what happened with the Autobots so many years ago. HE had used Bumblebee against her to target Optimus. And now, HE was using a human as leverage. "Don't you dare hurt Elena, you scum bastard!" She snarled mostly towards Scourge.

Snorting, Cataclysm looked down at her, slightly bending down to look into her white blue optics. "If you do not want your human to be harmed, then you will do exactly what I tell you! If not," He sneered. "I will have Scourge tear her head from her body where you will watch."

Spitfire glared at him, but she could not hide the pain in her optics. She knew he would do it too. So lowering her head against the ground, she closed her optics and sighed heavily. She had to listen to him. So she nodded and remained just laying there, now ignoring the protests from Elena. All she could do was turn her head away from Cataclysm and looked painfully away.

Unfortunately, she caught Starscream's optics, who was staring at her. He didn't look any happier than she did. But he was hiding it a lot better than she was. She watched as he stared back at her before letting his gaze flicker to Cataclysm. And with that look, he narrowed them into deadly slits. It was a dangerous look he was shooting at Cataclysm. It only gave Spitfire only a spark of hope that he might just help her and Elena. But she couldn't be too sure.

 

The first thing that everyone did as soon as Cataclysm was gone was everyone rushed back to the Dam to find out what exactly happened. To even think that Scourge had even gotten a hold of Elena was disturbing. To imagine what he did to the other teenagers, it was even harder.

Luckily, everyone found the four remaining teenagers still intact. They were covered in bruises from getting whipped at by Scourge's tail, but they were in no immediate danger. Except from the anger that some of the adults had for their foolish attempt to watch the fight. Reno had given Mikaela quite the earful for it. Sam was getting a not so nice lecture from his parents when they found out what happened. As was Anya. But Trent was freaking out about his cousin.

And he wasn't the only one.

Bumblebee was taking it very hard of Spitfire's capture. He had isolated himself from the others into an empty room just to bash its walls with his anger, fear and frustration.

"Bumblebee! Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself or make a bigger mess than the Dam already is in." Ratchet scolded as he and Optimus watched the young Scout punch the walls of the room. They didn't exactly blame him though for acting this way. But right now, they couldn't allow Bumblebee to fall apart.

Of course, Bumblebee didn't cease his actions until Ironhide moved into the room and grabbed a hold of his arms, pinning them behind his back. He had a tough time keeping a hold of him. So Hound moved in to help. It was just as tough trying to keep a hold of him.

"Bumblebee! Stop! Now!" ordered Optimus as he moved over and grabbed a hold of the Scout's shoulders, giving him a little shake. "We will get Spitfire back! I promise! She will not be harmed!"

Slowly, Bumblebee stopped fighting with him and the other two Autobots. He looked rather pitiful standing there. His doors hanging down as low as his head was as he looked sadly at Optimus. But at least he wasn't being violently impared at the moment. Everyone else looked at him with sympathy before they looked around at Optimus. The humans were a lot more confused about the situation than the Autobots were.

"What happened out there? What did that Cataclysm do? How did he just vanish out of thin air like that?" Reno asked, frowning finally asking the one question that was going through everyone's heads.

Jetfire, who was standing over Anya and Vladimir, shook his head and folded his arms over his wide chest. He looked very forlorn about the idea but not surprised. "He opened a Space Bridge portal. It's the quickest way of transportation for our kind. And the most dangerous. It's a way we used to try and travel or transport things. But it's also very unstable to even open one up. Especially traveling with a human. We don't know what it would have done to humans if they went that way." He tried to explain.

Lennox and Epps frowned at one another before looking back up at Jetfire. "What do you mean?" The Major asked.

Optimus sighed as he finally turned away from Bumblebee and looked down at the humans. He didn't look happy at all to think that Cataclysm used a Space Bridge. "To open a Space bridge, its tearing a rip in reality to cross distances. On Cybertron, we created the Bridges for the war. It was either to transport supplies to those who needed them or get to where the enemy were. But its highly unreliable." He shook his head as he heaved another airbrake like sigh. "Space Bridges were very dangerous for even our kind. Things tend to go wrong. Either the Space Bridge ripped its passengers apart or they were lost into space." He explained.

"That don't sound good. What would have happened to Elena then?" Epps asked.

Trent, however, looked frantic. "What do you mean? What happened to my cousin? Is she alive? What...what happened?" He asked, almost in a panic.

Optimus quickly waved a hand at him to calm down, though it didn't do any good. He sighed heavily when Trent kept up his frantic mood. "Trent, I am sure that Elena is fine. Judging by the stability that Space Bridge had, it was a full Space bridge. Cataclysm must have found the right passages to travel through one." He tried to reassure him.

"How do you know that, man? How do you know that Elena is fine?" Trent asked, still in a panic.

"Uh, Trent." Reno spoke up, folding his arms across his chest. He even raised an eyebrow towards the teenager, smiling skeptically. "I don't know if you were paying attention at the time, but Optimus did say that he was a Space Bridge Scientist before he became the Prime. I'm sure he knows what he's talking about."

Trent's face flushed at those words and a few other humans had to smile or chuckle a little. They saw Reno's point and agreed. Optimus even spared a light smile at Reno before looking back at Trent, giving him a reassuring look. "Trent, it is not easy to difficult to explain to you about Space Bridges. In truth, I have been Prime for a very long time and not a Space Bridge Scientist. Most of what I now know is to how to lead the Autobots. But I do remember a deal about them. The Space Bridge that Cataclysm used was stable. If it hadn't been, there would have been parts left behind by one of the three that went through it. There has been many times that one of our kind tried going through a Space Bridge and they would end up in pieces. The whereabouts of where the parts went were never reassuring but it has been said that Unicron, some of his Minicons," He paused to glance at Jetfire. "And Jetfire are the only ones who can create a truly stable Space Bridge."

Everyone looked over at Jetfire, surprised to hear that. Jetfire, however, just glanced around at everyone and shrugged as if it wasn't even a big deal. He didn't seem to care what their reactions would be at all.

But Trent looked hopefully up at the Seeker, his eyes quite wide. He took many steps towards him, having to crane his head to look up at his face. "So...wait. You can take us to where they went? You can take me to my cousin?" He asked, hurriedly.

Jetfire grimaced but shook his head. "It's not that simple, youngling. I maybe able to open a Space Bridge, but it won't be the same Bridge that Cataclysm used. It's almost impossible to go straight to the same coordinates as he did." He told him.

"But...! But what about Elena? I can't just leave her with that monster! She's family!" Trent started to shout, his voice hardening a little.

"Trent, we'll get her back. We understand how you feel..." Sam tried to reassure him.

Trent turned sharply and gave him a very hard look. "No!" He shook his head violently before reaching out and grabbed Sam by the front of his shirt and gripping it tightly. "You don't understand, Sam! You don't! You've never had a family member being threatened by a Decepticon, have you? Elena is sixteen years old! She's still a minor! She's practically still a kid! I have to save her! She is the only family I have that actually understands me! And I understand her!"

No one spoke for a moment before Mikaela sighed and stepped forward. She looked him right into the eyes almost seriously. "But I do understand, Trent." She quickly held up a hand when he tried to interupt. "Trent, Barricade attacked my uncle, remember? He was going to take Uncle Reno to get to us. To get to me. Use my uncle to use me to get to Sam and probably use Sam against Optimus and the Autobots." She told him firmly.

Again there was a silence before Trent sighed in defeat and let his shoulders hang low along with his head. He knew she had a point. The Decepticons had tried to use Reno Banes against them. He couldn't argue with that.

But just as his head went down, it went back up when Hot Rod moved over and knelt above him. He turned his eyes up to meet his Guardian's bright blue ones. "Trent, I swear to you. We will get Elena back." He then turned his head and looked directly at Bumblebee, who was leaning against the wall, head pressed against it. "We'll get both of them back. We won't let either one of them die." He said, looking to Optimus next. "Right, sir?"

"Indeed." Optimus confirmed, firmly. "Spitfire is one of us and Elena is one we should be protecting. We will get both of them back safely and unharmed. Autobots, prepare yourselves. Any that needs repairs, turn to Ratchet immediately. We will be leaving for wherever Cataclysm has gone before the day is through." He looked over at Jetfire. "My old friend, how long do you think it will take before you can find the Space Bridge that Cataclysm took?"

Jetfire shook his head with a huff. "It's not possible, Optimus. Not without knowing where the designation is going to be. We can't just keep opening up the Space Bridge and hope to pop up..." He was saying.

Just then, Blaster yelped right next from Mirage and Epps making almost everyone jump or jerk around to look at him. He looked entirely surprised by something. It was almost like he just learned something very important. "Optimus Prime, sir!" He piped up, before stepping very close to Epps, almost shyly when everyone looked at him. The reaction merely made Mirage smirk as he looked down at the youngling. "Sir, two transmissions just came in at the same time. One, it's Wheeljack. He's boosted himself right into Earth's atmosphere. So he's arriving now. He should be landing in the Bonnaville Salt Flats of Utah. And two," He slouched even lower, looking almost afraid now. "Uh...the second transmission...it's...it's..." He squeaked.

"Who is it, Blaster?" Mirage asked, gently, bending down and placing his hand around the small Autobot.

Blaster glanced worriedly up at Mirage before ducking his head down. He even kicked a little at the concrete ground of the base before looking nervously up at Optimus. "It's from...um...it's from Starscream."

Everyone went dead quiet, shocked and alarmed.

For a very long time no one said a word. No Autobot nor human couldn't be sure they heard right. They weren't sure if they heard Blaster clearly. It couldn't even be possible. What would a Decepticon like Starscream doing sending transmissions to them, the Autobots?

"What do you mean it's from Starscream?" Ironhide growled.

Blaster squeaked a little before ducking a little lower behind Epps and within Mirage's hand, who shot the Weapons Specialist a look. But it was ignored. The small Communications officer was quiet for a moment before he looked up at Optimus, who waited patiently for his explanation. "Um...it's from Starscream. He's saying...he's saying something very odd. It's very quick and kind of strange. But it sounds like he's giving me coordinates." He said in a squeak.

Again everyone remained dead quiet and stared with alarm. They weren't too sure what he meant by saying that Starscream was giving them coordinates.

"Blaster," Optimus finally began, calmer than the others were taking it. He didn't seem too shocked to learn that Starscream was sending them coordinates but he was surprised. "Blaster, where does the coordinates point to?"

"Um...it's the Coast Range in the state of Oregon. Near Crater Lake." Blaster piped up.

For a third time, everyone stared with surprise. They couldn't believe that. What possibility that it wasn't a trap of Starscream's? Could it be a trap? Or could it be possible that he actually did not want to work for Unicron and his minions?

After a moment, Ironhide gave a loud snort and folded his bulky arms"Pit with Starscream! I don't believe him! It's gotta be a trap! He's probably leading us away from where they really are! Why would that Pitspawn tell us where he and the Cons are at? He'd only do it if it was a fragging trap!" He growled.

"No."

Everyone blinked in surprise before they turned to look at who had said that. And it was to their surprise, Bumblebee who said it. He had a firm look in his optics. He looked so determined that they realized that he believed what was being said.

Shaking his head, Bumblebee stepped forward, looking directly at Optimus. "I believe Starscream, sir. I believe he is trying to lead us right to them. He may hate the Autobots, and me. But he does not hate Spitfire." He tried to explain. "I might not like it it, but Starscream does care for her. They were friends while she was with them. He must be trying to save her life without giving himself a way."

"Bumblebee, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Ironhide stated, frowning at him. "Starscream doesn't care about anyone else but himself! Why should he care about Spitfire?"

Bumblebee looked over at him, frowning but shaking his head. He didn't want to say it but Ironhide wasn't giving him a choice. "Because if I know Spitfire, I know Starscream. They were friends. But I also know that Starscream is not insanely happy that she and I have finally connected. He was very angry about it. "

"Meaning," Mikaela interrupted, looking at Bumblebee softly. "Starscream is jealous of Bumblebee for winning Spitfire over him." Her remark ended up earning a bunch of snorts of laughter. Some of the Autobots, obviously, thought it was funny.

"Besides, I don't think he would hurt Spitfire." Bumblebee began again, tilting his head to the side and looking rather thoughtful. "Not enough to kill her."

"Uh, everyone does remember that device that he put on her, right?" Hot Rod asked, skeptically looking at Bumblebee. He couldn't entirely accept the fact that Starscream had been Spitfire's friend once. And he surely didn't believe that he wouldn't hurt her. He was a Decepticon. THE Decepticon who had no problem stabbing Cybertronians in the back to get whatever he wanted. Starscream was well known for that.

Bumblebee sighed heavily and shook his head. He knew that Hot Rod had a point. But he just felt the need to trust Starscream just this once. "Okay. Okay. I get it. But I really think he's telling the truth this time." He said almost glumly.

It was Ratchet's turn to sigh and move over to pat the young Scout on the shoulder in pity. "Bumblebee, we can't rely on any information that Starscream gives us. Ironhide is right. It could easily be a trap set for us. That is what Starscream would do. We can't trust him because he was Spitfire's friend. We all know his greatest strength is deception." He told him.

Jetfire was frowning the entire time. He didn't like it any more than anyone else did. But he did know how to find out what was the truth. "I can do a quick fly by in the area. Find out." He told them.

Optimus did not like that idea at all. "It's too risky, Jetfire. Cataclysm could see you coming." He said, shaking his head.

"Well that's a risk I'm willing to take, Optimus." The Seeker said seriously. "Like it or not, I'm the fastest out of all of you. If anyone could swing by quickly and get out, it's me. Besides, I've fought that tincan before in the Cybertron games. He might be tough but I can take him."

"Wait a minute." Reno spoke up, frowning. He had a very hard thoughtful look on his face as if he was remembering something. "Before Spitfire was taken, she said something to Bee. She said..." He crinkled his brow, thoughtfully. "I can't remember what she said."

"She said, it's him." Bumblebee said, looking away thoughtfully. He remembered what Spitfire had said. But it didn't make any sense at all. He didn't understand why she said that. Everyone was quiet for a moment. They couldn't make any sense of it. Why would Spitfire had said it's him? Who is him? Who was she talking about? They couldn't even begin to think of who it was.

But after a moment of thinking, Optimus shook his head. He didn't want to think any more of it until it actually came to him. They didn't have time to keep thinking on it before they had to go meet up with Wheeljack. He would be arriving very soon as it was. And in Utah, nonetheless. They would need to hurry to catch up with him. And with his help, and a lot of luck of him not exploding anything, they might just be able to find out where the Decepticons were. And where Spitfire and Elena were.

So with a heavy sigh, Optimus looked around. "Let's not worry about it until it actually becomes a problem. Right now, Wheeljack is coming down and he won't know where we are if he's managed to damage himself again. Blaster," He looked at the small Communications Officer, who immediately straightened up soldier like. "Search all frenquencies and see if you can locate any information of Spitfire and Elena's whereabouts. Hound, unfortunately we do not have time to ask for any permission but connect with the Satillite systems that maybe hovering over the Earth's atmosphere and see if you can spot the Minicons. In the mean time, we will need to go meet Wheeljack." He looked around again at all of the Autobots, nodding to them. "Everyone will go this time. Just in case Hound does spot the Decepticons." He told all of them.

Everyone nodded and began getting ready.

Only a few minutes after they began to prepare to leave, Sam lead Mikaela, Trent and Anya towards Optimus, looking up at his faraway face. "Optimus," He said, getting the Autobot Leader's attention. "I know it's going to be dangerous and everything, but can we come too? We want to meet this Wheeljack guy and we want to do anything to help you rescue Spitfire and Elena. Mostly Elena. She is Trent's cousin and I think he has a right to be there for her. He's the only one of their family that even knows about you guys and the Decepticons."

Optimus bent down to one knee to level eye with them. He observed the teenagers and a pair of hovering adults; Reno and Vladimir, rather carefully. "Sam, it might be too dangerous this time. You, young ones, were nearly hurt by Scourge." He told them.

Trent stepped forward, looking as bold as he could. He had a quite determined look, trying to show that he was not going to back down from this. "Elena is my family, Optimus. I have to save her. With you or without you, I will go and save her. I just hope that you will back me up to rescuing her." He said as boldly as he could.

For nearly a pregnant pause, Optimus stared at the young man for a moment, almost with a piercing gaze. He basically had a long stare down with Trent, who did not let up for one moment. But then after a moment, the Autobot Leader gave a sigh of amusement before bobbing his head once. "Very well. You may join us and the American soldiers. But you must stay with one of us at all times. When I tell you to take cover, you do it with no questions asked. It is for your safety that you listen to me. Understood?" He declared.

Each teenager, including Anya nodded with their own bold looks.

It was Anya's nod of understanding that nearly set Vladimir off. He gave a sharp intake of breath before moving forward and grabbing her shoulder, forcing her to turn around. "No! You are not going, Anya! It is too dangerous and I don't want you to be hurt!" He said loudly.

Anya frowned at him before shaking her head. "Papa, I am going with Trent, Sam and Mikaela and the Autobots. I am not going to sit here and wait to hear what happens. I want to help save Elena from the Decepticons and Cataclysm!" She said with determination.

But Vladimir shook his head vigorously, gripping her shoulders almost too tight. "No! I won't allow you to go! You stay here and stay safe!" He demanded.

"No!" Anya said, now gripping his shoulders tightly and shaking her head. She stared intentively into his eyes, giving him the idea that she was deadly serious. "I am going! Papa, you want to make sure that I stay safe, you come with us and help. But I am not going to just sit here and wait to hear if Elena has been killed." She shook her head sharply when Vladimir started to argue. "Papa! I mean it! Since this has been happening, I have done nothing but runaway! No more! I fight! I am your bebe! Your daughter! If that says anything, I am stubborn but willful like you! I will fight for what is right! I will not stay and hide! I will help Trent save Elena! I will help Optimus and the Autobots defeat the Decepticons! I am a hacker! I can come up with some really nasty computer viruses that may mess the enemy up long enough to for the Autobots and Jetfire to take them down!" She told him with the greatest determination she could. She was not going to back down.

"Yeah! You say it, babe!" Maggie said, moving forward and clenching a fist. She looked at Glenn next to her, who didn't look too happy then to Optimus. "I'm coming too! Glenn too! Together, Anya, him and I will find some way to download a virus into the Decepticons systems! We might even be able to even find something that will shut them down temporarily so that you can win this fight!"

"Yeah." Glenn murmured, still not looking happy but he did have a little bit of courage in his eyes. It was obvious to those who truly paid attention to him that he was doing this on his own. Not being forced by Maggie.

Optimus' optics lit up a little and he nodded with an almost smile on his face. He was finding his human friends' reaction very encouraging. But it was a good idea that Maggie was sprouting with Anya. "Very well. That is a good idea." He told them. Then he looked to Vladimir. "Comrade Vladimir Karpos, I swear on my spark, and Jetfire swears on his, nothing will harm Anya or yourself in this battle. You may come with us to ensure we keep that promise. But I think you will know that your daughter will not back down."

Vladimir was quiet for a moment as he stared at the large Autobot before looking to his daughter, staring into her eyes. He was like that for a moment before his face softened. He looked more understanding than he had before.

Carefully, he reached up and cupped Anya's face gently with his right hand, keeping it there against her round cheek and smiling. "I know." He admitted. "To be honest, if she would have backed down, I would have been surprised. She has her mother's determination and my courage. Even though, all I have done is show fear since this all began. I have been afraid because I don't understand. But Anya has just shown me otherwise." He looked sharply to Will Lennox, who wasn't standing too far away. "Commander Lennox!" He called, getting his attention. "May I come? I wish to fight along side you and your men against these...these dark metallica beings! The Decepticons, I mean! I could help."

Lennox stared at him for a moment before grinning at him and moving over so that he lightly clap the Russian on the shoulder. "Suit up, Comrade. We leave soon!" He told him, earning a grin right back.

Anya's own smile turned into a grin as she threw her arms around her father and giving him a tight hug. She was saying something to him in Russian though most of those who didn't know the language didn't understand. But it didn't matter. They were starting to get the idea that she was only thanking him.

It was not long before the Autobots and the humans to leave the base and start speeding down the highway, leading towards Utah.

"All right!" Lennox said loudly as he sat in Ironhide's cab with a map spread out in front of him. He was obviously being the navigator while Ironhide was in control. "The orders had already been issued by Kellar and Highway route 15 has been completely shut down through Nevada and Utah! There won't be any civilians getting the way so we can go as fast as we need to! We'll have to either break off onto Route 80 in Salt Lake though! We could try to cut through the Sevier Desert but that might take too long! It's full of too many zigzagged roads and dirt roads! Problem is, Kellar couldn't talk the Govenor of Utah to shut down the City of Salt Lake! There's too many people and it's more than likely that the civilians won't listen anyway! They strongly believe in their rights, orders or not. And Kellar can't make the Utahns do anything!"

"Understood. Thank you for that report, Commander Lennox! Autobots! Speed up! We must hurry! Blaster has said that Wheeljack will be making impact within the two to three hours! So, we are going to need to kick it up to mach speed!" Optimus remarked through the Communications system.

And with that said, every Autobot kicked up their speed to a mere blur outside. It startled the humans to see how fast they were going and they might have been a little un-nerved. But they were all doing their best to occupy their selves with something while not looking out the windows. It was better for them to not look otherwise they would have gotten car sick.

Three hours later, the convoy of unusual military vehicles were being forced to slow down a little as they hit Salt Lake City, Utah. It couldn't be helped as there were many, many cars driving on the streets. It was almost impossible to have to go around them.

"Man, look at this place. It's like an ant colony." Trent said, looking in wonder at all of the cars and so many people walking. He, like the other teens, were staring in wonder at what looked like a trolly passing by on rails in the middle of the street. "Wow, that thing looks like fun!"

Hot Rod chuckled as he turned his hidden eyes onto the strange train like vehicle, which read the name of it on the side. "Oh, come on, Trent! I'm faster than that Trax thing! I'm much funner than that!" He said through his radio system. He earned a grin from the jock before it was gone again. "Don't worry, Trent. I swear it. We will save Elena. You too, Bumblebee. We'll save Spitfire. For you." 

Bumblebee could not spare a smile but he did feel grateful to his words. His troubled processor was only on Spitfire; mostly. He was worried about Elena, but it was Spitfire he worried the most. He had only gotten her back and now he was losing her again. The only thing he could do was pray to Primus that nothing had happened to her yet.

Finally, the convoy broke out of the city and were heading down a nearly deserted highway leading towards the Bonniville Salt Flats. There weren't too many people driving on this road, but there were a few. It was much easier to going around them in the speed they were going. Even the Utah Police officers couldn't keep up with them when they tried to chase after them. They gave up after a report came in stating that they were emergency vehicles and they shouldn't be pulled over.

"Bullshit." One officer merely stated before slowing his car down. "You don't see a couple of Corvettes as emergency vehicles."

Just as the Autobots approached the Salt Flats, that was when they saw a big flaming ball streaming down out of the clouds. They all knew that it had to be Wheeljack. And everyone heard Ratchet start cursing in Cybertronian when a few stray pieces were flying off of him.

"Fragging son of a Glitch! He's hit something again! Damn you, Wheeljack! Didn't I ever tell you to be careful! Now I'm going to have to put you back together again!" The Medic Chief snarled in English over the Communications. It got a few chuckles and laughs.

Jetfire was quick to swooping down out of the sky and grabbing a hold of the falling Cybertronian to slow its impact. He was with Anya and Vladimir of course, who did suffer a little from his daughter's extreme flying lessons with her Decepticon slash Autobot Guardian. But he was doing much better than before. Only once he had to puke from being airsick. He was a naval man, not someone who enjoyed the sky.

Soon enough, everyone was stopped all around twenty foot wide crator, watching Ratchet as he was slapping a white colored Autobot over the head, who yelped loudly at his abuse and watched as the Medical Chief Officer putting his leg back on after losing it during the fall.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ratchet! That hurts!" the newly arrived Autobot complained loudly.

"GOOD!" roared Ratchet as he fixed the leg. "Maybe that will teach you to stop blowing yourself up while falling out of the sky, coming Earth Bound!"

Many an Autobot and human grimaced or cringed as they watched Ratchet continuously slap Wheeljack over the head before going back to fixing him. They found Wheeljack rather interesting though. He was a very cheerful and friendly Autobot, who was also rather sheepish. The first image of him as they had first approached was of him rubbing the back of his dented head in a very sheepish way and already beginning to apologize to Ratchet for falling apart.

Thus, began the abuse of Wheeljack from Ratchet. But other than that, the two seemed rather close to one another.

"Welcome to Earth, Wheeljack." Optimus said proudly as Wheeljack managed to clamber out of the crater with Ratchet somewhat supporting him. "We are very glad you are here."

Wheeljack merely grinned at him and met his greeting before looking around the entire group. He looked very pleased to see most, yet grimaced at the two grinning evilly Corvette twins. He was definitely not fond of them, obviously. So they must have played quite a few pranks on him in their time. He was introduced to all of the humans, greeting them in a very friendly way and recieving friendly greetings.

Then, Optimus proceeded with giving him a quick update of what was going on through their Cybertronian channels. It was according to him that the humans learned it was quicker to digest and recieve news. But to Wheeljack, it seemed even faster. He seemed to be able to upload information very quickly because it only took two minutes to hear about the entire story. And he looked surprised.

But not as surprised as he was, along with everyone else when Blaster squeaked loudly, jumping nearly five feet in the air as he whirled around. "Incoming, Optimus Prime, sir!"

Every Autobot whirled around, snapping out their cannons and weapons when they heard the screaming of a jet engine. It was a sound that all of them knew and most of the humans were starting to get to know.

They heard him before they even saw him coming.

Starscream landed heavily on the salty desert floor with a thunderous boom, keeping a good well distance away but keeping his claws up to show that he had not activated his weapons. He was obviously not there to fight them. But he sure looked pissed even approaching the Autobots. He didn't even spare the many weapons a glance but looked directly at Bumblebee, who was glaring at him.

"What the frag is taking you so long, you pitiful insect?" snarled the Seeker, startling quite a few of everyone.

Bumblebee's head twitched in confusion and he narrowed his blue optics at the Decepticon. He didn't understand like everyone didn't. "What?" He merely asked.

Starscream snarled again as he took thunderous steps forward but still kept a distance from the Autobots, ignoring all of the weapons pointed at him. He narrowed his fiery red optics at the Autobot Scout, looking extremely dangerous. "Do you not care what happens to Spitfire?" He snarled viciously. "I sent you the coordinates, risking exposure to that Pit forsaken fragger, Cataclysm! But you have not come yet! You have decided to greet another of your pathetic friends! Frag that Exploding windbag!" He snapped motioning to the new Autobot.

"Hey!" Wheeljack shouted at the insult.

The Decepticon ignored him as he balled up his claws. "I'm risking exposure even now coming to meet you fragging Autobots! I should be out patrolling the area but I detoured myself to coming here to find out what is taking you idiots so long to coming and saving that Glitching femme and her disgusting human!"

"Hey!" Trent and Anya both now shouted at the insult, glaring vicously at the Seeker.

Optimus finally lowered his fiery sword and motioned to the other Autobots to do so. He had to do it three times when Ironhide and the twins didn't lower their weapons. But once they did, he took a few steps forward, looking directly at Starscream. "Starscream, what are you doing here? If you are not here to fight..." He was saying.

Starscream shot Optimus an acid like look. One that looked like if he could, he would melt the Prime with his acidy glare. "What did I just say, Prime? Are you really that stupid? I just said I came to find out what is taking that idiot bug so long to coming to save his so beloved Spitfire? That is why I am here!" He snarled viciously before straightening from his bent over frame. "Did you think it was a trap? I'm not surprised that you do. It would be my intentions to do it."

"You're trying to save Spitfire?" Sam spoke up, frowning. He cringed when Starscream shot him a deadly look next.

"No!" The Seeker snarled.

Jetfire snorted, keeping Anya and her father safely on his shoulders, who were hiding behind his head somewhat. "Doesn't look like it from where we're standing, my old brother of the air. Why are you trying to save her? She's an Autobot. You don't like Autobots. But you even being here is proving that otherwise." He said, narrowing his own fiery red eyes.

Snarling at his former brother, Starscream looked very bitter indeed. He didn't say anything for a little bit before lifting his head. He still looked bitter but more refined than he had when he first arrived. "I don't like Autobots! But Spitfire is not an Autobot! She is not a Decepticon. She is a Neutral! She betrayed you Autobots and she betrayed us, Decepticons." He ignored the look Bumblebee gave him for his remark. "But she is also the only Cybertronian to ever give me a day in her time. I don't want to even hear you say anything about this, but she is the only one who ever showed me any respect that I deserve!" He snapped.

"Heh! You don't deserve anything!" Sideswipe said rather sourly, looking as if he wanted to attack the Seeker any moment.

"You killed many of our Autobots!" Sunstreaker added with a dangerous growl, his fire rods looking ready to cut into metal any time.

The only reply they got from Starscream as a growl. But it was Bumblebee who moved forward until he was standing a good fair feet away from him. "No." He interupted, looking directly at the Seeker. "No, he does." he ignored the surprised looks from his fellow Autobots. "At least from me. You've been protecting Spitfire all of these years, Starscream. Even if you hated her for turning her back on you. You've known where she was the entire time but you've never even went for her. You even said it yourself. You've been watching her back, trying to keep her presence from the other Decepticons. And from Megatron. She still considers you her friend, Star." He ignored the snarl he got from the Seeker but continued. "I don't like it, but you are. You don't like it because she IS an Autobot. She's not a Neutral. She's standing with me and Optimus and the others. But she won't turn her back on you again. And for that, I respect her wishes of not engaging with you."

Growling, Starscream glared at the Scout before turning sharply away from him and glaring at Optimus next. "You have until tomorrow at sunrise, Prime. It's going to be that time when Cataclysm finally decides to kill Spitfire. He's going to use her to online Megatron. Hurry it up and get there through a Space Bridge!" He snapped before taking a few steps away.

"Starscream," Optimus called after him, halting his departure. "Why are you really doing this? And what is Cataclysm planning on doing with Megatron?"

Starscream was silent for a very long time. It was almost un-nerving to everyone. They weren't used to even being around a Decepticon and not even engaing with it in a terrible battle. But after a moment, the Seeker turned back and met Optimus' blue gaze. "What do you think, Prime? I'm doing this because I owe it to Spitfire. She's the only thing I have to even come close to calling a friend. And Unicron is going to use Megatron to change him into one of his agents. Megatron is going to become a Minicon. And what do you think will happen when that does? You had to have help from a pitiful, disgusting human to defeat him an Earth year ago! Megatron as a Minicon will destroy you! I hate you, Autobots! But I hate Unicron even more! Spitfire made a very good point in telling me that Unicron and his Pitsucking spawns is the worst of my worries! So maybe...just maybe, and only this once, we better form an alliance to get rid of the world sucking Pitspawn!" He snarled before blasting off into the sky and was gone within seconds.

Every one, Autobot and human stared wide eyed at where Starscream had just been standing, shocked and alarmed into silence. It was not easy for them to even process what he just said. They surely couldn't believe it.

"Whoa. Did he just say what I thought he said?" Arcee was the one to pipe up.

"I think he did." Optimus remarked right back, still staring off after Starscream. He, like everyone, couldn't believe that Starscream would even consider it. "He just offered an alliance between Autobot and Decepticon until we destroy Cataclysm."

WHUMP! WHUMP!

Twin thunderous booms shook the ground, causing everyone to spin around to see what the hell just happened. And a few chuckles rose up out of the salty dust as every eye and optic looked at the Corvette twins, who offlined from the sure surprise.

The laughs died away quickly though as everyone realized that the worst was only to come true very soon. It began to dawn on them of what Spitfire's words meant. It had taken Starscream's words to make them realize it. And it scared every one of the Autobots nearly to the Pit. They didn't want it to be so, but it looked like it was leading that way.

"Cataclysm." Bumblebee was the one to voice out. "That's what Spitfire meant. Cataclysm is Unicron."

"That means, Unicron is already here." Optimus agreed very gravely.


	27. Final Strike

It was still very un-nerving to think that Starscream confronted the Autobots without even a fight and had sold out Cataclysm's position to save Spitfire. It wasn't something that they were used to at all. It was still bothering a few of the other Autobots but Optimus had made up his mind the minute that they figured out who Cataclysm was. It bugged all of them to know that a part of Unicron was actually there. But they knew that they had better destroy him before he caused some serious damage.

So, the Autobots and the humans turned their attention towards Oregon and they began to hurry. They were all troubled at the speed they had to go though. They knew that they would not reach Oregon by the next morning.

Optimus and Jetfire conversed with one another about what they were going to do while the others were resting and gathering their strength. Ratchet was busy working on Wheeljack, trying to get him repaired fully and slapping him over the head for getting himself torn to pieces. It was actually funny to even watch. Some of the human soldiers snickered at every yelp that came from the new Autobot. They knew they shouldn't have been laughing but they really couldn't help it.

Bumblebee, however, was very quiet as he stared dead ahead of the road they were on. It worried Sam to even think of how troubled his best friend was. He knew that it scared the young Scout of losing Spitfire. He didn't want to know what would happen to Bumblebee if he lost Spitfire. Because if it was in the case of Mikaela, it would kill him to lose her.

"Bumblebee." Sam spoke up after nearly an hour of silence.

'Yes, Sam?' The Autobot Scout hummed after a moment. He sounded terrible too. And it was hurting Sam to hear him like that.

"We'll get her back." Sam merely said, patting the slowly turning steering wheel in front of him. He wanted to be as comforting as he could for Bumblebee. And he was determined that everything would go back to being the same before this mess even started. Only, it would be a little different now that Spitfire was in their lives. They would welcome her as much as they could. No matter what.

The bright yellow and black striped Camaro hummed softly before a warm rush of air fell across Sam. 'I know, Sam. Thank you for saying it though. It really helps my nerves.' Bumblebee said gently. Sam smiled at him and looked forward again.

It wasn't even long before Optimus finally slowed down, pulling into a rest stop near Idaho Falls. He was joined by the others right behind him before his holoform and Reno stepped down from his big cab, looking everyone over. He knew very well why everyone was looking at him in worry. It was well after midnight now and they still had a ways to go before reaching their destination. "Everyone, Jetfire and I have been discussing it and we've decided we're going to try to make a Space Bridge to get there faster. But, there is a condition. Due to it being very dangerous, we can't risk the human allies going through it."

"Wait! What? Do you mean that we can't come?" Trent asked in an outburst.

Optimus looked over at him and then shook his head as he thought for a moment. "No. That's not what I meant, Trent. You will come but you won't be coming through the Space Bridge with us. It...It might disturb you if you do. The Space Bridges really aren't meant for humans. We have no idea what they may do to you. Some of the Autobots will have to come after us the more natural way. You may not arrive until we've dealt with Cataclysm."

No one really liked that idea. At least the humans didn't. They were already shaking their heads as they took in the Autobot Leader's words. And it was Lennox who spoke first before anyone could voice their protest. "Optimus," He began very carefully. "Why don't you just let us decide to risk that? We want to be apart of that battle. We want to fight along side you. If you're going to take the Space Bridge, so are we."

Again Optimus shook his head, looking a little disturbed that they were protesting. "It's too dangerous for you, Commander Lennox. The Space Bridge has always been very dangerous for our kind. It will be extremely dangerous for yours." He argued.

"Optimus, as much as I hate to argue with you," Reno began, looking directly at the taller man beside him. "But Lennox is right. We're coming with you through the Space Bridge. It's our choice and we all know that you won't take that from us. We want to see this Space Bridge all the way through. It might be too dangerous, but the minute we hit that battlefield, we all have to be there to fight whatever fight is over there. Come on, big guy. Let us, humans, take a few risks for ourselves."

Sighing, Optimus placed his fists on his waist, shaking his head as he looked at the ground. He knew that it was way too risky. There was a good chance that the humans might not even come out okay. But they weren't going to give it up. "Are you sure you want to risk your very lives by traveling through the Bridge? It may just very well kill all of you." He warned them.

"So will fighting the Decepticons in your war." Epps added. "But we don't see you protesting against that. More than half of us are Soldiers, Optimus. We put our very lives on the line every time we step out onto a battle field. Come on, man. Let us take this risk like we do every time we face a Decepticon."

There was a long pause as Optimus thought about it. He knew that Epps had a point. So did Lennox. And Reno. It was almost funny to even imagine that a few humans were making him consider this. But he knew that it was their choice. They wanted to take the risk and go through the Space Bridge. So with a sigh, the Autobot Leader finally nodded. "Very well. But I do pray to Primus that nothing will happen to you because of this Bridge. If you are coming, it may be very rough. So everyone human is strap their selves down tight within an Autobot. We'll go in our vehicle forms. Everyone but myself, Ironhide, and Jetfire. We will be going in through first that way we can find out how rough the landing will be. And if it's too rough, we will be there to catch the rest of the Autobots from getting injured, causing harm to the humans." He told them.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They knew it was a fair deal. So they would go along with it. It was for their safety after all.

It was about ten minutes later when everyone was ready. Every human was strapped down tight within the remaining Autobots. Reno had decided to ride with Sam and Mikaela, who would be risking a lot if she rode Arcee into the Bridge. So they were with Bumblebee, who had tighten the seatbelts into a tight embrace, though it wasn't entirely comfortable. Anya and Vladimir were with Ratchet and a few other soldiers. And of course, Trent was with Hot Rod while Lennox and Epps were riding with Mirage. Both Maggie and Glenn had taken up with riding with Sunstreaker, who wasn't entirely happy but he didn't say anything.

Everyone was finally ready to go.

Optimus, Ironhide and Jetfire were in their bipedal forms and standing several feet away from the others. They were ready to try it. Both Optimus and Jetfire glanced at one another before they nodded and shifted into what looked like a brace. It was as if they were getting ready to be shoved by something very hard.

With a hiss of airbrakes and hum of jet engines, both of the two largest Cybertronians rose both their hands and pointed them towards a clearing.

It was then something quite unbelievable happened. A strange gust of wind began to pick up and swirl around the entire area. It was almost an...inhuman cyclone of wind building up and starting to cause dust from the street to raise up in swirls. It was almost un-nerving to see or even feel. It was like a freak storm just started up out of nowhere before there was a bright flash of light, causing all of the humans to cover their eyes and their heads to shield them from the bright light.

Suddenly, the Autobots and the humans felt a sharp tug all around them before they were being thrown in the air.

Several of the humans shouted in alarm as they were thrown back tightly against their Autobots' seats, as they tried to keep any harm from coming to them. They couldn't stop their own shouts or blaring honks of alarm as they were tossed into the air like metallic dolls before coming to a crash in trees or a grassy field. Only a few were caught by Optimus and Jetfire as they had been the first ones to come crashing out of the Space Bridge. The most they could do was slow the crash of the Autobots with humans. Other than that, the others just got a few dents from crashing into a few trees.

"Oww!" Sideswipe groaned as he detached himself from a tree trunk. "Aww, man. I don't think I'll ever get used to traveling by Space Bridges."

"Sideswipe, you never traveled by Space Bridge before. So shut it." Ironhide growled as he pulled his front bumper out of a thorn bush. He ignored the annoyed honk from the silver sports car as he took a look at Mirage, making sure that Lennox and Epps were doing okay.

Optimus stood up straight, looking everyone over and noting all of those that had a few dents in their vehicle frames. He was only glad that they didn't look too hurt. He didn't want to hear Ratchet nagging at him about how dangerous the Space Bridge had been if someone had gotten seriously hurt. "Autobots, damage report. Is everyone all right? Any humans hurt?" He asked, looking around with concern.

"We're okay here, Optimus." Sam called out from Bumblebee.

"We're good. Mirage kept us pretty snug in his seats." Epps called out.

Anya and Vladimir both stuck their heads out and waved a hand to let them know that they were okay. Maggie did the same, though she looked like she was laughing about something. "I'm okay. Glenn is too, but he's passed out. I don't think he enjoyed the ride very much." She told everyone, which a lot of people and Autobots rolled their eyes. They weren't too surprised with that. Though, Hound did move a little closer to make sure. He hummed with satisfaction when he found no injuries.

"Where in the name of Primus did we land, anyway?" Sunstreaker asked, looking around with his hidden eyes.

Everyone looked around to find that they were in some forestry like area. There were a lot of trees all around them and by the feel of the air they had gone up north. It was a little chilly, making a few of the humans grimace and shiver as the cool air bit at them. Wheeljack transformed into his bipedal form and lifted a hidden compartment lid to reveal a small arm computer. He began typing away at it before looking at Optimus. "If my calculations are correct, Optimus Prime, we are only five miles away from our intended destination. We didn't land too far off course. It won't take us very long to get back on track." He told him.

Optimus nodded in satisfaction before he bent down and transformed back into his Semi Truck form, followed by everyone else. "Good. This is better than I hoped. Autobots, let's roll out." He said, starting to roll forward only to stop again when Reno hopped out of Bumblebee and hurried towards him. He didn't need to be told once that the human wanted to ride with him. He didn't mind either as he popped open his passenger side door and let Reno climb up into his cab. "Autobots, roll out!" He called again.

And soon, everyone was on their way again.

Jetfire flew straight up though until he was within the clouds. He didn't want to be seen by any of the Decepticons and he was keeping an eye out for them. Just as he was hitting the clouds though, he caught sight of vehicles not too far off. "Jetfire to Optimus Prime. I see the destination. It's just a little over five miles away. I can see the Decepticons doing something. I can even see that Pitspawn, Cataclysm. He's well in the trees." He radioed to the others.

"Good, Jetfire. Keep an eye on them from up there and radio us if they make any signs that they see us coming." Optimus Prime radioed back. "Everyone, keep the private channels open but don't make any noise more than you can help it. We don't want them to see us coming. Who knows what they will do to Spitfire and Elena if they do know we're here." 

Everyone acknowledged with only a flash of their headlights as drove after Optimus, keeping as quiet as they could. Only many engines rumbled from the Autobots as they drove through the forest road. They each kept their radars going to keep an eye on the Decepticons. They didn't want to be attacked at any time.

 

In the vicinity of the Crater Lake, the Decepticons were mostly standing by and keeping watch as three of the Decepticon medics were finishing Megatron's repairs. Some of them were in their robot modes, keeping watch while some glanced a little nervously at the monstrous dump truck sitting not too far away with Cyclonus stood right next to him. He was standing right on top of Spitfire's chest, keeping her pinned down. She was struggling, of course, but there wasn't much of a difference. Cyclonus was a lot stronger and heavier than she was. And some of the Decepticons were smirking as they listened to what kind of language that the human teenager was sprouting out of her mouth as she attempted to struggle in Scourge's vice grip. She was even attempting to kick him. It wasn't doing very much to him other than annoying the Pit out of him. He was mostly ignoring her but there was only so much he could take.

"You guys are soooo dead when Optimus Prime and the Autobots get here! They are so going to kick your stupid tincans for what you're doing!" Elena was going off, trying to annoy them as much as she could. She knew that it was a very dangerous task to doing it but she didn't care at the moment. "I can't wait to see the Autobots total you up! You're so stupid for doing this! And do you seriously think I'm afraid of you, you stupid snake bot! I'm not afraid of you! You're so ugly! How could Anya even think that you were cute! Human form or not!"

"ARGH!" Scourge finally snapped before snarling into Elena's face, making her cringe back in alarm. "SHUT UP! My Lord! I can't take any more of this pathetic human's screeching! Please, my lord! Allow me to offline her now!"

Spitfire immediately began struggling harder as she glared at Scourge. "NO! DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER, SCOURGE!" She snarled but she yelped painfully when Cyclonus dug his heel into her chest to shut her up.

Cataclysm made quite the chuckling sound from his engine before turning slightly on his wheels to look at Scourge. "Request denied, Scourge. We still need the human to get our little traitor to do as we tell her. We kill the human now, we'll have some problems." He told his subordinate, much to the Sweep Master's disgust. "But, my little Spitfire, it would serve your human pet some good if she kept her loud and obnoxious opinions to herself. If she does keep it up, I'm going to allow Scourge to crush her vocal pipes so that she will never be able to speak again."

Spitfire shot a dark look before looking worriedly at Elena. She didn't want any harm to come to her so all she could do was shake her head at her young friend, telling her to keep quiet. She knew that Cataclysm's patience was wearing thin, itself. And making him angry was the worst thing that could happen. She turned her eyes onto Starscream, who was standing behind a tree, watching her with a scornful look on his face. She really hoped that he would do something soon. Because it wouldn't be long before Hook, Scalpel and Groundhog finished repairing Megatron's frame. They were just barely finishing the wielding of his chest, sealing up the gaping hole that had been there. "Star." She murmured very quietly before wincing when Cyclonus dug his heel harder into her chest.

Starscream just narrowed his eyes darkly before looking away without even a word. He sure didn't look happy about the situation but it wasn't like he couldn't do anything. Instead, he looked towards the trees, almost looking for something. But then he looked up into the darkening clouds and caught sight of a shadow within them. His eyes lit up only a little before he smirked coldly.

"Hook! How long will it be now?" Cataclysm demanded, now aggravated. "Have you even repaired Megatron's spark chamber?"

The Constructicon who had taken on as a yellow cat crane looked over at him before he looked back down at Megatron. He surveyed him for a moment before nodding and looking back at Cataclysm. "The Spark Chamber is finished, My Lord. We just need to repair his weapons systems and hook up his navigational system to finish up. It won't….." he was saying.

Cataclysm made a loud click before he began to twist and turn, transforming into his giant self. He loomed over the Decepticons, who stepped back, a little un-nerved of his size. "No. That's good enough. I don't care if he has weapons or not. He will not be alive long enough to use them. Hook up the connection wires between Megatron and Spitfire now. It's time to bring him back on line." He ordered.

"Yes, My lord." Hook, Scalpel and Groundhog said as they began unwinding a roll of electric wires and hooking them up to Megatron's spark chamber.

"My Lord," Starscream spoke up, now frowning seriously as he stepped out from his standing post. "If we use Spitfire to revive Lord Megatron, it will kill her. This kind of revival may be too much for her to stand."

Cataclysm turned a rather nasty fiery glare onto Starscream before lashing out and grabbing him by the neck, causing him only to yelp. He ignored the Cybertronian swearing from Spitfire as she began banging hard at Cyclonus' foot. He only brought the Seeker closer to his face, gripping his neck tightly in his grip, causing the metal to groan. "Starscream, I do not care if it kills Spitfire. Her uses to me have expired the day she betrayed me. You better get over her, Starscream! Because if you don't, your uses will expire and I will destroy you! Now, take the connection wires from Hook and you hook them up to Spitfire! I want you to be the one to do it!"

Starscream looked like he had just been slapped. He positivity looked surprised that Cataclysm was demanding him to do this. He looked at the surprised look on Spitfire's face, seeing that she was just as stunned as he was. "My Lord, I don't think…" He was saying.

Growling, Cataclysm lashed out his other hand and snatched the wires out of Groundhog's claws as he was starting to turn towards Spitfire. He looked surprised that the giant tyrant would do so but he didn't protest. He just watched as the giant dump truck shoved the wires into Starscream's claws and shoved him towards a smirking Cyclonus and a struggling but surprised Spitfire. "You're not here to think, Starscream! You're here to do what I tell you! Now do it now! If you want to prove that you have no loyalties to this Autobot Glitch, you will be the one to finish the process! Hook the wires up to her and activate the revival program!" He snapped.

For a moment, Starscream just stared at Cataclysm before he glanced down at Spitfire and then the wires. He didn't move for a minute until Cataclysm made a rather threatening growl at his back. He stepped closer to Cyclonus, who took his foot off of Spitfire and grabbed her by the head, holding it in a crushing grip.

"NO!" Elena screamed, struggling in Scourge's vice grip, who was grinning evilly as he watched.

Spitfire looked right into Starscream's eyes, quite uneasy about what he was going to do but she put on a brave face and shook her head. "Do it, Starscream." She whispered to him. "Save yourself. But please, protect Elena. She's still a Sparkling by age."

Starscream narrowed his eyes at her before stepping ever so closer and making a move to connect the wires. He paused a hair length away from her before shaking his head. "I don't care about your filthy human, Spitfire." He growled at her before he lashed out a clawed hand and grabbed Cyclonus' arm, yanking him down. He lashed out his foot and kicked Spitfire out of the way, much to her surprise and yelp of pain. He didn't even listen to the shouts of alarm from the other Decepticons as he thrust the wires up and hooked them to Cyclonus' chest, much to his shock.

"But I don't care to listening to these pathetic Minicons!" Starscream snarled as he slapped the device on his arm.

Sharp electricity exploded from the wires and through Cyclonus, causing him to throw his head back and roar in pain as electricity exploded from his chest into the wires. Sparks were coursing down his metal frame and up again, causing him a whole lot of pain. He ended up falling to his knees, bent over from the intensive pain he was gong through. Many of the Decepticons gawked in surprise of what Starscream had done. And even Spitfire was looking alarmed.

But Cataclysm snarled in rage as he looked at the electrified Cyclonus then back to the Seeker. "Starscream! You stupid, betraying fool! How dare you betray me! I will have your spark exploding in my hand for this!" He roared as he lashed out towards Starscream.

Before he could even do anything to him, Spitfire was quickly on her feet, grabbing Starscream's arm and swinging him right out of the way. She quickly transformed her arm into her blaster and aimed it at Cataclysm, glaring fiercely at him. "Don't you dare touch him, scumbot! I will not allow you to hurt him for stopping you!" She snapped before trying to fire. She yelped when the blast backfired in a explosion of sparks, causing her to stagger back.

Cataclysm could only snort in vicious humor as he glared down at her. "Your cannon will not work, Spitfire! I deactivated it, remember? If you protect that idiot, I will make sure your suffering is ten times worst than it would have been! I will reprogram you to betray your precious Autobots again and again and then I will have you dismantle Starscream in the most painful way! Now, get away from him so I can rip him to pieces!" He snarled at her.

"NO!" Spitfire snapped, before yelping as Starscream grabbed her arm and yanked her harshly until she was behind him. She could only look at him in surprise. "Star?"

Starscream raised his own blast cannon, aiming it directly at Cataclysm's chest, ready to fire when needed to. "Decepticons! While Megatron is out of commission, I am the Leader! And I order all of you to attack these Pitspawning Minicons! They are just a danger to us as they are to the Autobots! I am tired of listening to these morons! Sooner or later, Unicron will arrive to Earth and he will reprogram all of us to becoming Minicons! His own mindless slaves!" He shot a dark look around at every Decepticon in the area. "Any who oppose me, stay the Pit out of my way! As much as I hate it, I will work alongside the Autobots to destroying this Primus forsaken moron of a leg of the Chaos Bringer! You understand that, Prime?" He demanded.

Everyone, including Spitfire, blinked in surprise before their heads jerked around when they heard crashing booms against the ground approaching them. They all looked up to see Optimus Prime and the Autobots quickly pushing through the forest, cannons raised towards Cataclysm, Cyclonus and even Scourge, who looked just as stunned as they did.

Optimus merely glanced at Starscream before nodding. "Understood, Starscream! Autobots, attack only the Minicons! If a Decepticon fires upon you, you are free to defend yourself!" he ordered. "Any problems with that, Starscream?"

"None whatsoever!" Starscream growled as he let go of Spitfire's arm and began firing at Cataclysm. "Decepticons, attack!"

And then Hell all broke loose.

Half of the Decepticons just ended up standing there, looking bewildered about what they were suppose to do while the other half immediately began firing at the Minicons. They were not going to deny the fact that while Megatron was out of commission, Starscream was in charge. They were not going to deny him that authority. More or less, none of them were going to stand against him, the other Seekers, and the Autobots at the very same time. The Decepticon Seekers; Thundercracker, Skywarp and Thrust were already attacking after receiving their orders from Starscream. And they were seriously not going to go up against the four Decepticon Seekers that were a well good team together.

Cataclysm, however, was severely pissed off by the betrayal from the Decepticons. His already fiery red eyes flared up brightly before he rose up to his full height and Sweeps came diving right off of him, swirling around him like a tornado. "If you betray me, Decepticons, I will see to it that all of you are deactivated! And I will not reprogram you this time! You will be the first metal graveyard on this pitiful piece of dirt of a Planet!" He roared.

Suddenly, a blast cannon smashed against Cataclysm's head, causing him to only sway a little. He jerked around with a savage growl to see Jetfire diving down out of the clouds. He had been the one to fire at the metal giant, nearly throwing him off balance. "Oh, shut it, Cataclysm! If we, Decepticons, choose to destroy you first, then how will you destroy us!" He roared before firing a series of rounds at Cataclysm.

"Hey! You're not a Decepticon!" One Decepticon roared. "You're on the Autobots' side! So that makes…"

Jetfire came crashing heavily down onto the earth, glaring at the Decepticon who had even had the gull to say that to him. Some of the Autobots even winced, already feeling bad for the Con that 'insulted' the Legendary Seeker. "Say that again, worthless little sparkworm and you will face me in battle! I am a Decepticon! Like it or not! I just choose to side with Optimus Prime and the Autobots because they're smarter than you lot! This war between Decepticons and Autobots has gone on long enough! The meaning behind this war is stupid!" He snarled, before turning sharply around to blast a Sweep right out of the air for diving at his back.

The Decepticon who had insulted him, cringed back, waving his claws in the air to let Jetfire know that he surrendered to that fact.

Spitfire's attention perked up when Bumblebee came sliding across the forest to stand right next to her while the Sweeps. She smiled brightly when he turned his cool blue gaze onto her, happy to see her as much as she was to see him. But her smile faded when Bumblebee lift his eyes and looked a little serious. She turned only a little to see that Starscream was pretty much glaring at the Autobot Scout. She glanced back and forth between the two, almost uneasy. It looked like both of them just wanted to start shooting each other.

"Starscream, Bumblebee, don't." She murmured, hoping that they would comply.

Both of the mechs didn't look at her, only stared harder before they threw up their cannon blasters and aimed it at each other. They didn't look at Spitfire as she tensed up, looking almost frantic. They just pointed their cannons at one another before they jerked to the side, each opposite and blasted a Sweep right out of the air that had been diving at both of them.

Spitfire blinked in surprise as she watched the two Sweeps explode before looking between her two friends again, almost too astonished to say anything. She couldn't believe that they had just saved one another from getting attacked.

Glaring at the yellow Camaro, Starscream turned with a jerk but kept his fiery gaze onto him. He ignored the uneasy look that Spitfire was giving him again as she pried herself in between the two, hoping that would keep them from fighting one another. "Insect," The Seeker growled. "Not that I care about her, because I don't, but you better take care of this Autobot Glitch. If anything happens to her, I will personally rip you a new aft and then I will dismantle you."

With that said, the Seeker turned sharply and blasted off into the air, joining his fellow Seekers, and Jetfire, to attacking Cyclonus, who had managed to rip the electrifying wires off his chest. He shot the Legendary Decepticon a dark look but didn't seem to care that he was flying near him.

Both quite astonished, Bumblebee and Spitfire glanced at one another before they smiled at one another. They knew that Starscream would never admit it because of his Decepticon pride, but he did care about her. And for it, they both respected him. They smiled brightly at one another, giving each other a nod. "Let's do this, Bee!" She said brightly.

"Yeah!" Bumblebee shouted cheerfully before they both jerked around and began attacking any Sweeps they could. Spitfire couldn't shoot her blast cannon but it didn't mean it was useless. She twisted and transformed her arm until it was a blade. They wouldn't worry too much about Cyclonus, since he was tied up with a battle with the Seekers and some of the Aerial Decepticons. And they wouldn't worry too much about Cataclysm because everyone else was shooting at him. So all they could do was shoot at Sweeps, taking them out so they wouldn't be annoying to the other Autobots and Decepticons.

While watching the battles, the humans were still hiding in the trees. The Soldiers were shooting at any Sweeps they could that came too close while the teens kept well hidden behind the trees, trying to stay out of sight so they wouldn't get mixed up in it. But as they observed the explosions and clashing metal, it was Trent who noticed that Scourge was yanking Elena off the battle field. He didn't seem to want to be caught within the fight at all. Especially with his human hostage. He was going to finish this, his way. Even it meant having to do it away from everyone else.

"Elena!" Trent yelled before he charged after them.

Everyone jerked their attention towards the Sweep Master and noticed that he was dragging Elena away from the battle. They didn't need to be told twice that she was in danger. "Trent! Wait!" Sam cried out as he quickly ran after them.

Trent did not acknowledge him as he ran after Scourge, his fists tightly clenched and his legs pumping as he tried to get to Elena fast. He didn't care if Sam, Mikaela or even the Soldiers might have been following after him. He just needed to get to his cousin. He had promised himself that he was going to protect her and he was going to keep that promise. He was going to save her from that Minicon, no matter what happened to him. He was not going to let Scourge hurt Elena.

Approaching quickly, Trent braced himself as he dived right at the Sweep Master, not caring if he had heard the approach and started to swing his tail. He just dove right at him, ducking under the tail as best as he could before slamming into the snake like Minicon. The impact hurt his front after trying to tackle the metallic being. But the young jock wasn't going to let it get to him. He threw all of his weight onto Scourge, pushing and shoving as hard as he could until he slammed the snake like being to the ground. The air had been knocked from his lungs, of course. But Trent did his best to grab at Elena's arm and scamper to his feet, pulling her away as fast as he could.

Hissing angrily, Scourge twisted and jerked, trying to get himself back up before he turned to glare at the two teens and lashed out his tail. "You stupid, pathetic human!" He snarled as he wrapped his tail around Trent's ankles and yanked them hard.

Trent managed to shove Elena away before he went slamming down to the ground. He heard her yelp in pain as she landed hard against the unsteady forest ground but he didn't have time to worry too much about her. He was getting dragged back towards Scourge and all he could do was kick and swear as he tried to break free from the metal snake's vice grip. He quickly curled up, grabbing at the metal tail wrapping around his legs and tried to pry it loose enough so he could slip through. But Scourge wouldn't have it. He just rose a sharp claw and started to swing to slash the human teenager with it. He was going to kill Trent if he could.

However, before he could strike, a stick came out from the side and slammed into his head, throwing him off balance. Scourge turned with a jerk as Sam brought the stick back down onto him, striking him. The Sweep master snarled at him as he threw out his claws and slashed through the stick as it came down at him again. He was quickly back up, transforming his right claw into his blaster gun, aiming at Sam, who jumped back in alarm. "Human fool! You will die for your interference!" He snarled.

Suddenly, gunfire went off and bullets slammed into Scourge, throwing him off balance again. This time, he was forced to let Trent go as he was being thrown back from the force of the bullets. He whirled around, hissing only to see the human Russian training a gun on him, ready to fire again.

Beside Vladimir, Reno had joined the fray, pointing a semi automatic hand gun at him. He had a hold of Elena's arm, pulling her to her feet and handing her off to Mikaela and Anya, who were pulling her away from the fight with the men and Scourge. He quickly shot Sam and Trent a look, throwing his head to the side, telling them to get out of the way. Sam and Trent were quick to scamper away from Scourge. "All right, snake bot. Get ready to feel the pain of what happens when you mess with family." He said dangerously.

Scourge stood up on his snake like body, bent over a little as if posing to lunge at them. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at the two men that were aiming their weapons at him, watching them as they started to circle in opposite directions. He twisted and jerked his head to keep an eye on the two. "You fools! Do you not know who I am? I am Scourge! The Master of the Pretenders! I am Lord Unicron's most loyal subject! If you choose to engage with me, I will destroy you!" He snarled, aiming both of his arm blaster guns right back at the two.

"Yeah? Duly noted, Scourge." Reno said darkly as he dipped his head down lower. "And now, let me tell you who I am. I am Reno Banes, retired American Soldier. And you do not mess with my niece's friends or my Little Mickey! You do that, I will bust you up! Vladimir, let's light him up!"

Vladimir nodded with a jerk of his head and began firing off his gun.

Together, Reno and the Russian began unloading their guns on Scourge, who snarled in rage at the assault before they both had to quickly move as he tried to fire right back. They managed to dodge the blasts coming at them in time as they moved further away from the teens, trying to draw the fight away from them. It was working, nonetheless. Scourge wasn't too worried about a couple of un-armed human teenagers. He was more worried about the actual threats that were shooting at him. Energon blasts and bullets flying between the three, they were moving a little further away from the kids until they were at a safe distance. Once they were well away from the teens, Reno and Vladimir really began to have it with Scourge. They began firing all they could at him, trying to avoid getting blasted in the process. They had to dodge many times as Scourge tried blasting them with his energon blasters.

It wasn't helping very much as Scourge got fed up with missing the humans and decided to charge at them, whipping his tail at them. His tail slammed into Vladimir, sending him flying backwards until he landed heavily on his back.

"PAPA!" Anya screamed from the trees, almost running forward to help him. But Maggie and Glenn both grabbed a hold of her to keep her from moving.

The air had been knocked out of Vladimir's lungs but he was quick to rolling to the side as Scourge tried to bring his tail down on him to crush him with it. He managed to move in time, much to his relief before he whirled around to start firing again. He jumped only a little when he saw how close the Sweep Master had come, bringing down his claw to slash him with.

Before Scourge could even strike Vladimir, Reno quickly jumped up and caught his arm, throwing him off balance. He, however, knocked into Vladimir, without meaning to, sending him crashing to the ground. He didn't pay too much mind as he kept a tight grip on Scourge's arm before he whipped foot around and slammed it right into the Sweep Master's face, knocking him backwards. Reno quickly let go, bringing up his gun and aiming right at Scourge's chest.

"Adios, Master Pretender!" Reno barked before firing his gun.

The end of the gun exploded and the bullet slammed right into Scourge's chest, causing quite an explosion of sparks. Glowing red liquid began to flow down the Sweep Master's chest as he snarled in pain. His snake like body began to twist and jerk like a writhing snake. He began to thrash against the ground, clutching at his chest plates, swearing in Cybertronian. "Slagging humans! I will see you suffer for this!" He snarled as he thrashed against the ground before slowly he slowly grew motionless. His fiery red gaze flickered before going dark.

Reno glared at the motionless Scourge before he slowly got to his feet, keeping his gun trained onto him. He didn't trust the Minicon to let down his guard until he checked. He carefully walked over with Vladimir right beside him, keeping his own weapon on Scourge. They both looked him right over before nudging his snake like body with their feet, just to be sure.

When Scourge didn't move, they finally relaxed and lowered their weapons, moving backwards away from the snake like Minicon. They looked at one another, nodding their approval for what they had done. Vladimir actually looked grateful for Reno had done. "Thank you, Comrade Banes. You saved my life. I now owe you a life debt." He told him.

"Nah. You would have done the same for me. We, humans, gotta look out for one another." Reno told him before looking over at the teens as they slowly came out to see if it was okay. "You okay, Elena?"

Elena, still quite shaken up, just nodded as she held onto Trent, who kept a tight arm around her. She didn't trust herself to speak just yet but look uneasily at the fallen Minicon. She just added another nod to that one, letting Reno know that she was fine. Everyone seemed to understand because they didn't push it. They just looked down at Scourge.

"Is he really dead?" Trent asked, making it very clear that he hoped that he was.

Reno looked back down at Scourge, kicking his body a little harder just to make sure. So when the Minicon didn't move after getting kicked so hard, he nodded, looking back at Trent. "I believe he is. I don't think he would have taken that without retaliating right back." He told him.

"Good." Trent bit a little harshly, glaring at the Minicon who had threatened his cousin's life.

Vladimir just looked around at everyone, jerking only a little when they were reminded that they were on a battle field. He didn't want the teens getting caught up in the fights any more than they already were. "You need to take cover, children. This is too dangerous for you to be here. Get into the trees, well away from the battles. We will help the Autobots deal with this threat." He told them.

Reno nodded as he met Mikaela's eyes, noting that she didn't like that idea at all. She didn't want her uncle risking his life like this. "Uncle Reno, you really shouldn't do this. This is too dangerous. Let the Autobots take care of this." She glanced at the sky just as some of the Decepticon Seekers went flying over, attacking Cyclonus with Jetfire's help. "And the Decepticons are somewhat backing them up. They can take care of it." She told him.

Again, Reno nodded. "Yeah, but I'd rather fight right beside Optimus in this fight. I'm not going to stand by and watch them fight that metal beast." He said looking at the giant who was throwing Autobots and Decepticons in many directions. He looked over at Sam and Trent, motioning them closer. "Sam, Trent, you take care of the girls. Make sure they get somewhere safe until this fight is over." He told them. Sam and Trent both nodded before they turned and took Mikaela, Anya and Elena's arm, hurrying into the trees, moving as far as they could but be able to watch the fight.

Reno and Vladimir looked at one another with determined looks before they turned and hurried back to where Lennox and Epps were still shooting at Sweeps, trying to take them down. They were going to back up the Autobots no matter what the cost would be.

The fight with the Minicons were proving to be a little more difficult than everyone predicted though. Especially fighting with Cataclysm. He was just too big and too strong and it didn't help that he had a very thick metal armor protecting his interior. He didn't need to blast any of the Autobots or Decepticons that were attacking him. He just swung a heavy hand at anyone that was attacking him and knocked them off their feet into the trees.

But as Optimus charged forward, slashing at his armor with his fiery red blades, Cataclysm was starting to get fed up with it.

Growling, he lashed out at Optimus, trying to knock him back like he had done with the others. But with the Seekers flying above him, shooting at him with missiles or rapid fire, it wasn't proving to be any easier. He snarled as bullets and energon blasts were starting to penetrate his armor. This fight was not going into his favor at all.

Snarling again, Catactlysm stomped a foot, causing quite an earthquake, making it hard for Autobots and Decepticons to stay standing. Even Optimus stumbled against the violently shaking ground.

From above, Starscream dropped down, right on top of Cataclysm's head and dug his claws into it to stay on. He quickly looked over at where Megatron was still immobilized before shooting the closest Cybertronian to him a look. It was to his disgust that it was Bumblebee. But choosing to ignore it, he would have to do it anyway. "Autobot insect!" He roared. "Bumblebee!"

Bumblebee quickly ducked under a blast from Cyclonus and looked up at Starscream as he held onto the thrashing Cataclysm.

"Get those wires! Connect them to Cataclysm!" Starscream yelled.

Frowning, Bumblebee didn't know what Starscream meant to do but he nodded as he quickly hurried to Megatron's fallen form and gathered up the connection wires. He turned quickly and ran over to Cataclysm's large legs and dove between them, trying to circle it so to tighten the wires around it. He yelped when he nearly got shot by the giant, seeing that he was now resorting to trying to fire at Starscream and any Autobot or Decepticon that was attacking him. He was quick to clamping the connections to a pipe on Cataclysm's leg before leaping back as the giant swung a giant hand at him.

It was unfortunately that this time, Cataclysm's hand caught him, sending him flying several feet before crashing into a tree.

"Bumblebee!" Spitfire cried out in alarm before hurrying over to him. She dropped down next to Bumblebee and tried to help him up. Her eyes widened when she saw that his neck was sparking up a little from it getting nicked by one of Cataclysm's claws. "Ratchet!"

Ratchet jerked his head around from firing at the giant Minicon before hurrying over. He quickly waved Spitfire to step back and when she did, he scanned Bumblebee's neck, looking for the damage results. He swore in Cybertronian and shook his head. "It's not too serious, Spitfire! He'll be all right! But his vocal system was damaged again. Slaggit! Bumblebee, Hound told you not to get that damaged again!" He scolded. Bumblebee winced as he touched his sparking neck before shrugging as if trying to apologize. But Ratchet wouldn't hear of it as he quickly began to work to seal the sparking unit. He looked at Spitfire, who was looking painfully sorry. "Spitfire! I'll take care of him! Help them take out Catactlysm!" He ordered.

Spitfire nodded, a now pissed off look on her face. She turned sharply and glared up at Cataclysm before she stood up and started to move away. She only had to stop because Bumblebee caught her hand, and looked at her with worry. She only smiled as she reached down with her free hand and touched the side of his face. "It's okay, Bee. I'll be okay. You just take it easy for now." She told him before she quickly turned and rushed back to fight Cataclysm.

Starscream had seen what was going on with Bumblebee and rolled his eyes. He should have known that something like that would happen. Cataclysm was getting more violent by the minute and it was time to get rid of him for good. Growling, he reached into his chassis and pulled out a device from within. He didn't know if this was going to work but it was worth a try. He knew he would have to be quick with doing this because if he wasn't, he could get smashed to bits. He hated the knowledge that doing this might just revive that Pitspawning Megatron but he didn't really see what choice he had. He just hoped that the first person he started hitting on wasn't going to be him when he revived.

Moving as fast as he could, Starscream dropped down to Cataclysm's chest and slammed the device against a pipe sitting across it. He quickly pushed a button so the clamps would place, catching hold of it. And as soon as the device was placed, the Seeker kicked right off of Cataclysm to watch the show.

The very minute that the device was set on Cataclysm, it began to spark violently and that caused quite the reaction from the giant Minicon. It sent jolts of electricity all through his metal frame, causing him to roar in pain and double over. He slammed a heavy hand against his chest and glared down at the device that had been placed onto him. He couldn't think for a moment of what it was until he noticed the device and recognized the Cybertronian name carved on the casing.

Growling savagely and trying to push the electric currents aside and ignore the energon being pulled into the device, Cataclysm glared down at Starscream who had landed near Megatron's body. He knew that it had to be the Decepticon Seeker because he was smirking coldly up at him. "HOW DARE YOU, STARSCREAM! THIS BETTER NOT BE…!" He roared.

"Oh, but it is, My pathetic lord." Starscream interrupted before lifting his arm and opening the hatch on it. "And now, you will revive Lord Megatron."

And he pushed the button.

Electricity exploded from the device and Cataclysm's chest, raining up and down his metal frame. Any Autobot or Decepticon attacking him stopped to watch in alarm and surprise as the giant's entire frame rocked and violently shoot from the pain he was going through. They didn't dare to touch him with all of that electricity running from the device down to the connection wires. They could only watch as the wires lit up from the electricity, running right into Megatron's body, which jerked from the sudden energy jolting into him.

"ARGH!" Cataclysm roared from pain, throwing back his head and mid stepping. He nearly crushed one of the un-named Decepticons if Ironhide hadn't lashed out and grabbed him, yanking him out of the way.

"Primus, I can't believe I just saved a slagging Con." The Weapon Specialist grumbled as he moved back away with the Decepticon, who was too busy staring in shock at Cataclym to be alarmed of being saved by an Autobot.

Starscream, Jetfire, Spitfire and Optimus were the only ones to watch on without any surprise but in determination. It wasn't exactly the best idea of using Cataclysm to revive Megatron, but if it took out the Minicon, Optimus would rather deal with Megatron rather than Cataclysm. He wouldn't like the results, he knew that Megatron would bring to the Autobots or the world of Earth at all, but it was better than the results that Unicron or any of his Minicons could bring.

Of course, Cataclysm didn't like the idea of being used to revive Megatron. Even as he caught a glimpse of Megatron's fiery red eyes starting to flicker on line. He roared in rage and pain before lashing down and grabbing the connection wires with his large hand. He ripped them away from his leg as much as he could before throwing them to the side. It did not stop the device from attacking him though. He roared as the device continued its attack on him before he just reached down and grabbed a chunk of his own metal frame, ripping it from his own body.

With a gaping hole and bright green energon starting to flow down his frame, Cataclysm glared down at the still jerking body of Megatron. He cursed violently as he saw a spark starting to flare up within his chest. It would not be long before the Decepticon Leader would be up and going.

"Slagging Autobots! Slagging Starscream! I will see all of you destroyed!" Cataclysm roared before he crouched down a little. "Cyclonus! Sweeps! To me!"

Cyclonus ripped himself away from his continuous battle with Thundercracker, Skywarp and Thrust and blasted off into the air towards Cataclysm. The Sweeps were quick to follow, though a few dove down long enough to snatch up Scourge's deactivated body. They flew around Cataclysm like a metal tornado before slamming into his body, connecting their selves to him.

Once that was done, Cataclysm crouched even lower to the ground before kicking hard off the forest floor, causing quite the tremor for everyone. It was enough to bring some of the Autobots and Decepticons to their knees while the humans just simply were thrown to the ground. They watched as Cataclysm rose higher and higher into the air. It was by the looks of it, he was retreating.

"YES! HE'S LEAVING!" Sideswipe cheered, throwing up a fist.

In unison, a few of the Autobots and Decepticons threw their fists into the air and cheered. They didn't care if they were doing it together. They just wanted to be rid of Cataclysm. They could continue their war against each other without even fearing of the giant Minicon any more.

But out of everyone watching, Spitfire actually looked horrorfied. Especially as a brilliant glowing light began to form in the center of Cataclysm's chest. She shook her head as she watched him rise higher and higher until he was nearly in the clouds. "No." She whispered and she looked sharply around just as Ratchet, Wheeljack and Hound seemed to realize what the real situation was. They looked just as horrorfied as she did.

"No! He's preparing his final attack! An Energon Blast Bomb!" Wheeljack yelled, over all of the cheers of their comrades and enemies. Slowly everyone died down and looked at him in alarm before realizing that he was telling the truth. They knew what an Energon Blast Bomb was.

"Primus!" Jetfire swore as he bent down a little.

"What? What is that?" Epps yelled to one of the Autobots, mostly looking at Mirage.

Optimus shook his head as he looked gravely up at Cataclysm as the energon began to glow blindly bright. He had never seen an Energon Blast Bomb performed but he knew the results of it. "It's a last resort explosive! It will have the same results as one of your human weapons called a warhead! If we don't stop him right now, half of the Western Coast will be anniliated! Autobots! Fire everything you got at Cataclysm! We need to bring him down before he fires that thing!" He ordered before throwing up his blaster arm and began to fire.

The Autobots were quick to join him, firing blast cannon after blast cannon.

"Decepticons! Do the same! We cannot allow Cataclysm to fire off his weapon! It will destroy all of us as well!" Starscream roared before blasting off into the air and attacking the Minicon. The other Seekers were quick to follow, including Jetfire. They began firing as many missiles as they could at the giant.

But Spitfire just stood there, looking pained. She knew that it wouldn't be enough to bring Cataclysm down in time. He was too high and the energon blasts were just barely reaching him. It wasn't going to work. She knew that everyone right where they were standing would be blasted into pieces, if not incinerated with that attack that Cataclysm was preparing. It pained her to think that all of her Autobot friends, her human friends were going to die, along with millions of lives that even lived on the Western Coast.

Breathing deeply, the young femme knew that there was only one way of stopping Catactlysm. She knew it would be so risky but she had to try it. She jerked around and looked for the device that Starscream had used on the Minicon before hurrying over and snatching it up. She frowned as sparks lashed out at her but she couldn't hesitate a second longer. Turning with a jerk, Spitfire looked directly at Bumblebee, who was slumped against a tree, still clutching at his very sore metal throat. It pained her of what she was going to have to do but she was not going to do it without saying something first. Spitfire walked over to Bumblebee and caught his attention. She could only give him a gentle look as she bent down next to him, pressing her forehead against his. She didn't linger long but pulled away, getting quite the confused look from him. "Bumblebee, I am so sorry that I betrayed you all those years ago. I know I've said it a lot but I didn't want to leave without saying it again." She watched as his eyes widened a little and he tried to speak, only to get metallic yelp instead and clutch at his throat. She just shook her head as she rest a hand on the side of his face. "Bumblebee, I love you so much. Please take care of Elena for me." She told him. And then she stood up quickly and hurried away.

Bumblebee tried to catch her hand to stop her but she pulled away before he could. He made loud metallic sounds, as if shouting after her and it only caused him more pain. His actions didn't go un-noticed though as several of the Autobots and Decepticons looked at him then over to Spitfire.

"Spitfire?" Optimus even called to her.

But Spitfire ignored him as she walked straight up to Starscream, who barely realized that she was approaching him. He turned to face her, frowning almost gravely. "Starscream, thank you for watching my back. I'm sorry that things had to turn out this way between you and I. But the thing is, you're just too stubborn for your own good. Please, Star. Consider a truce with the Autobots. This war has gone on long enough and it can end with you." She told him.

Starscream narrowed his eyes at her and tilted his head to the side. "Spitfire, what the slagging name of Primus are you up to? You're speaking as if you're…" he was saying.

"Saying goodbye?" Spitfire finished for him, smiling before she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down closer to her. "I am." And she tapped her forehead against his before she shoved him away and grabbed his arm. "I am so sorry for this, Starscream! But I need these!" She quickly said as she twisted his arm and hit it as hard as she could. It snapped right off, causing the Seeker to yell out in alarm and pain. It was more or less when she jerked him around and yanked off his wings with a loud snap.

As quickly as she could, she turned and ran away from Starscream, who was cursing violently after her and attached the wings onto her own back, letting them click on. She wasn't made for flying but it had to be enough for her to just fly straight up to Catactlysm.

"SPITFIRE!" Elena screamed after her, along with several others.

But Spitfire didn't look back as she activated Starscream's wings and blasted off into the air. She kept a tight hold onto Starscream's arm as she flew as fast as she could up into the air, rising higher and higher and ignoring all of the shouts she was getting from the Autobots or Starscream. She just glared straight ahead at Cataclysm who didn't notice her coming until she was right in front of his gaping chest.

"Spitfire!" The Minicon roared down at her, before trying to swing at her.

Spitfire quickly dodged around his swinging hand, yelping a little when the wings didn't want to work the way she wanted them to. She just lashed out and caught a hold of a pipe on Cataclysm's chest before wrapping her arm around it so that she could reach back and unlatch Starscream's wings, letting them fall back down to Earth.

Cataclysm glared down at her as she began to climb up onto his chest until she was nearly right in front of the gaping hole. "What are you doing, you pathetic femme?" He roared at her.

Shooting him a dark look and wrapping her legs around the pipes on his chest, Spitfire let go of the pipes, letting herself dangle there. "I'm destroying you!" She yelled before throwing Starscream's device into the gaping hole. She was quickly to shoving the control panel open on Starscream's arm and slamming her hand down on all of the buttons. She threw it away from her as hard as she could just as the devices; the one flying into Cataclysm and her own, exploded. "Goodbye, Bee." She whispered before shutting down her eyes.

The explosion was massive. The devices exploded from within Cataclysm and Spitfire, causing quite the huge ball of fire and flaming metal flying in many directions. It was like a huge bomb went off right in the air, sending a rain of fire and metal flying into the air. It was big enough to light up the entire coast of Oregon and even more.

And all eyes that were watching widened in horror and alarm.

Not one Autobot, Decepticon or human could speak as they had watched Cataclysm and Spitfire explode. They couldn't believe this had happened. They couldn't believe that Spitfire had just destroyed herself to destroy Cataclysm.

But after a moment, the most horrible sound exploded throughout the entire clearing and all eyes turned to look right at Bumblebee as he scampered a little across the ground before looking painfully up at the sky. He made the most terrible sound that anyone had ever heard in their entire lives. He couldn't speak but it didn't mean he couldn't cry out in pain. He threw his head up, making a terrible metallic screech before dropping his head.

"She's…..She's….." Ratchet said almost speechless. "Spitfire's gone. I can't pick up her signature any more."

"SPITFIRE! NO! NO!" Elena screamed, now dropping to her knees. She screamed a little when Trent quickly wrapped his arms around her, trying to hold her. But she violently shook her head as tears began to spill down her cheeks. "Spitfire! NO! She…! She can't be….! She can't be dead!" She screamed continuously.

But everyone knew the truth. The explosion had just been too big and too powerful. It was even sending Cataclysm's metallic parts shooting out of the Earth's atmosphere into open space. They knew that it had come to this.

Spitfire was gone.


	28. Painful Aftermath

No one could expect that this would have happened. No one could prepare what kind of pain everyone would feel after seeing the demise of Spitfire. And certainly, no one could prepare their selves when a very angry and confused Megatron lurched up from his immobilized state, roaring as he clambered to his feet and glared around at everyone in the clearing.

"What the name of Primus?" Megatron snarled as he noticed all of the Autobots standing around him. He turned to glare directly at Optimus who tensed up only a little with all of his companions. "Optimus Prime! What in the slagging name of…..! What is going on here? Decepticons, attack!"

"Hold your fire!" Starscream ordered, getting very surprised looks from most of the Decepticons and even Megatron. He was looking around for his wings and arm that had came crashing down onto the forest ground. And when he spotted them, he went over and snatched them up. "Hook! Groundhog! Get over here and fix me!" He snarled at them, quite aggravated.

Megatron glared right at Starscream as he pushed himself to his feet and started forward to beat the living Pit out of the Seeker. But he stopped when Jetfire landed heavily in between them. He merely growled at the very sight of the Legendary Decepticon. "Jetfire? You're here? Starscream, I demand an explanation right now! How dare you undermine my authority! I will have your…!" He was snapping.

Optimus stepped up carefully towards Megatron and held up a hand to get his attention. He braced himself when the Decepticon Leader whirled around, aiming his large cannon at him. "Your cannons are not online right now, Megatron. It would do no good to you to fire at me." He said carefully. "You've been offline for a long year. We can explain why we are here and not fighting."

"You better talk fast, Prime, before I lose my patience with you! Why are you here? Why are you not fighting with my Decepticons!" Megatron demanded.

Starscream looked over at him with a glare but shot Hook a dark look for being a little too rough with attending to reattaching his arm. "My Lord Megatron, it was necessary to work with the Autobots this time. Without their help, all of us, you would have been destroyed by that pitspawn, Cataclysm!" He growled.

Megatron blinked only once as he looked at his Second In Command. He hadn't been expecting to hear that name. But it had his attention. He dipped his head down a little and glared straight at Starscream, narrowing one eye. "Cataclysm? What was Cataclysm doing here? What in the Pits has happened while I've been offlined?" He demanded to know.

Optimus nodded as he lowered his hand to his side. He was only too glad that Megatron hadn't decided to start attacking him or his Autobots, who were crowding behind him. Hot Rod, Ratchet and Arcee were crowded around Bumblebee, who was staring off with a very blank but pained look on his face. He was still having a hard time recovering after Spitfire's sacrifice. "Megatron, for the past year, you've been at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It was your grave. We could not allow you to continue to live…." He was saying.

"You're trying my patience, Prime." Growled Megatron, glaring fiercely at him. "Explain Cataclysm!"

Optimus frowned at him but shook his head. "Cataclysm came to Earth to revive you. He claimed that he was going to punish you for betraying Unicron and going on with your own agenda. He was a bigger threat than each one of us is to the other. And you know that. Starscream, here," He motioned to the Seeker, who was glaring at Megatron with a leery look. "He made a decision and it was for the best of all of us and this Planet. We fought side by side to destroy Cataclysm and now it's done. But it did not come without a sacrifice. You remember Spitfire?" He asked, though in a very grave tone.

Again, Megatron blinked in surprise before he frowned darkly. "Oh, yes. The little Autobot who betrayed you to save her precious little bug." His fiery gaze flickered over to the disturbed look on Bumblebee's face. "And then she went and betrayed me. Betrayed the Decepticons. I made a promise that I would see her suffer. But by the looks of it, her suffering is over." He looked back at Optimus, who was frowning gravely back at him. He could tell that the Autobot Leader wasn't liking the way he was talking about the Autobot femme. "Let me guess, she's deactivated."

"You son of a Glitch!" Hot Rod snarled, getting to his feet and glaring over at him. He would have charged over if Ratchet hadn't caught his arm and held him back. "Spitfire destroyed herself to save all of us! She even saved your worthless deactivated aftpipe! So don't you dare talk about her like that!"

"Hot Rod." Optimus warned, waving a hand at him. He turned back to the glaring even fiercer Megatron, shaking his head. "Spitfire is gone, Megatron. And she indirectly saved your life as well as all of ours. Like it or not, she's the one who destroyed Cataclysm before he could make all of us a huge crater in this Planet. She does not deserve any disrespect that you may make out of her."

Megatron narrowed his eyes dangerously at Optimus but he bared his sharp metal fangs at him. "I don't care about your little Spitfire or what she did to save your measly life, Prime!" He then groaned and doubled over, nearly going to one knee. No one moved to help him though, due to the fact they knew he'd probably hit them. "It seems that I do not have enough strength to destroy you. But mark my words, Prime. This is not over. I will see the day that you are destroyed! For now, I'll let you grieve for your femme! Decepticons! Retreat! Starscream, I will have a full report out of you by the end of this!" He snapped before attempting to transformed into his jet form. It was a poor of an excuse transformation and he eventually ordered for some of the Seekers to help him.

Meanwhile, Starscream was finished with fixing his wings and he glanced over at Bumblebee, who still looked like he was in real pain. He only narrowed his eyes darkly at the young Scout before blasting off into the air, flying after the other aerial Decepticons while the ground Decepticons drove after them.

For a very long time, no one spoke but just stood there. The Autobots and the humans were actually surprised that Megatron had decided to leave without a fight. But they also didn't blame him in his weakened state. But still, they all looked gravely around until all eyes fell onto Bumblebee. They felt horrible for him. He had lost Spitfire once again. And this time, she was not going to come back.

"So, what now? What are we going to do?" Hound asked, quietly.

Optimus looked directly at Bumblebee and sighed softly. He knew that the young scout was in terrible pain. He remembered the pain he had felt for when Elita One had died. The pain he had felt had been so terrible that Optimus hadn't wanted to live on without her but did for the sake of his Autobots. But for Bumblebee, he knew it was going to be a very long time before he was okay again.

If he ever was going to be all right again after losing Spitfire.

 

It was not long after that did everyone return back to their lives. It was not the same as before but they did what they could. Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena had to return back to school but it was very clear to others that something had changed. They could tell with the way they walked through the main doors of Tranquility High. Many students knew that something must have changed for the three high Schoolers. They could tell by the extremely grave looks on their faces.

But one thing that the Tranquility High School couldn't put their fingers on was the fact that Sam, Mikaela and Trent were now hanging out with each other during school. It had quite a few students and even some of the teachers baffled when they saw the three together, talking as if they had nothing against each other.

People questioned the three about what had all of them so down. But none of the three could even answer. They couldn't just tell everyone that they had just helped save half of the Western Coast from a giant tyrant and one of their best friends had perished in that fight. They could only say that a close friend of theirs passed away. They even mentioned that the only reason why that Sam and Trent weren't biting each others' heads off was the fact that they had actually hung out and decided to be friends. Quite a few of Trent's friends did not approve of his friendship with Sam Witwicky but he told them to blow off and let him decide what he wanted.

Still, there was mostly one thing that bothered the three teens and everyone else the most. It troubled all of the human allies and the Autobots of Bumblebee's behavior.

Since the day of Spitfire's sacrifice, all Bumblebee could do was sit in Sam's garage and stare at the wall. He couldn't speak because of his damaged vocal system but he didn't do anything either. He just sat in his Camaro form and stared. He made no attempts to move. He just sat there as if he was a normal car that wasn't working. He didn't even take Sam to school so the teen had to ask Mikaela or Trent for a ride.

No matter how hard Sam tried, he couldn't get through to Bumblebee. He had tried talking to his Guardian, nudging him a little with his hands. But Bumblebee made not one move or made a single sound. It was like he had died right along with Spitfire. Sam had even tried to get Optimus to talk to his best friend but no matter what the Autobot Leader said, the young Autobot Scout would not talk or even acknowledge him. It was troubling enough to Optimus about how things were going. There was no sign of the Decepticons and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. They were too quiet even with Megatron back online and Optimus didn't like it.

There was one shed of good news though.

Even after Spitfire had sacrificed herself, things had been extremely hard for Elena. She had gone home, clearly upset. She had locked herself in her room and nearly cried all night until Nikki Valentine went in and asked her what happened. Elena didn't want to tell her what had happened. She didn't want anyone to know that her best friend had been killed. She could only ask herself how she was going to tell Nikki that her best friend as a giant alien robot and she had been destroyed saving millions of lives? She knew that she could have been committed to a mental asylum.

But after some coaxing, Nikki finally got the entire story out. And that included what Spitfire was.

Of course, Nikki Valentine just stared at Elena as if she had just grown three heads on her shoulders before she sighed and accepted the news. She was taking it very well to hear that Spitfire as Ember had been an alien robot and had gotten herself blown up. But the most part, she promised Elena that she would never tell anyone. Not even her mother of what the Lotus Elise had been. She even tried comforting her as much as she could.

Eventually, Elena felt somewhat better after being able to talk to Nikki about Spitfire and the Autobots. She felt better enough to be able to ask if Ratchet could take a look at her father. She had been pretty stressed out with the death of Spitfire and she did not want to lose her father either.

Ratchet, fortunately, agreed to look at Timothy Lincoln.

It was not even a long observation of Timothy Lincoln before the Autobot Medic came up with the conclusion of what was wrong. He explained to Elena and Nikki that what was keeping Tim in a coma was the fact that he had a pinch in his nervous system and that was keeping his awareness from surfacing. It was a little hard for Elena and Nikki to actually understand because Ratchet was using too large of words. But he did tell them that he could operate on Tim and help him come out of his comatose state.

It was very risky but after some hesitation, Elena asked him to do it.

The operation took place only a week later. Ratchet had Timothy Lincoln moved to his medical bay in the Hoover Dam so he could perform the operation. Sam, Mikaela and Trent had decided to be there as Elena's support , as well as a few others. Even some of the Autobots waited with them to hear if Ratchet's operation was successful. But one thing was for certain, it had quite a few people on the edge; Elena being the most edgy.

After nearly ten hours of operation time, Ratchet emerged from the medical bay and smiled gently at Elena. He told her that he had managed to get the pinched area in her father's nervous system unpinched and it was only a matter of time if he woke up or not. They would have to wait and see what would happen.

Two days later, after a nearly four year coma, Tim Lincoln woke up from his coma. He was not aware of where he was and by the time he managed to gather his awareness, he was already back in his own bed in the Lincoln residence. Never in Elena's life had she been so much happier. She could not recover from Spitfire's death, but getting her father back had healed a part of her. Everyone was very happy.

Even Deanna Lincoln was happy enough to pull herself out of rehab to return home.

Of course, after hearing that Deanna had blamed Elena for her husband's state had put quite the pressure on their marriage together. Tim had not been happy to hear that his wife had blamed their daughter for what happened to him and he made it very clear that her blame on Elena would have to stop. They all decided to take some family counseling while Tim was recovering from his coma. So far, it was working.

Things have indeed changed for everyone in a good and bad way. Everyone was still in a lot of pain after Spitfire had died and it did show. But the Autobots and the humans did their best to cope with it.

Trent had even finally sat down with his parents to talk about his future. He made it very clear to Roger DeMarco that he was going to quit Football and he was going to become an Animal Doctor. There had been another argument between Trent and Roger but this time, they did it without yelling at each other or getting physical. Roger, eventually, caved in and told Trent that he could do whatever he wanted as long as he did good at it.

And to prove it, Roger DeMarco presented Trent with an Australian Shepherd puppy.

Trent nearly fell over the back of his seat trying to scramble for the puppy, which had greeted him with adorable little barks that melted his heart. He was grinning from ear to ear the entire day as he played with the puppy and tried to come up with a name for it. And since it was a boy, he decided on the name; Primus.

Introducing Primus the Puppy to the Autobots was hilarious enough. Every single one of them, including the humans fell in love with the puppy and it was only a bigger surprise that the pup did not show any fear of the giant alien robots one single bit. They even had a little laugh over the puppy's name and showed their approval with big smiles to Trent. Hot Rod, especially, loved Primus to death. He had no problem with the puppy riding with him and Trent where ever they went.

Of course, there was still one Autobot that Primus the Puppy had not met, due to the fact that he had exiled himself into solitude in Sam's garage.

Bumblebee's behavior was worrying the Autobots to no limits. They couldn't help but check on him every day and try to get him to acknowledge them. Even while Ratchet had taken his vocal system and given it back to Hound to fix, who was not happy at all. Quite a few of the Autobots even tried scolding Bumblebee, trying to get him to do anything. But there was no avail at all. And it was just worrying everyone even more.

There was even some strange events going on elsewhere in the world that had many of the Autobots frowning with suspicion. It didn't help that Teletraan was still down after Scourge's attack on it and it kept glitching every single day. It kept setting off alarms, stating that there were Decepticon attacks going on all over the Nation. Optimus had lead convoys of Autobots to find the Decepticons but they discovered that it wasn't true. Teletraan was constantly glitching and no matter how hard Hound and Wheeljack worked on it, it still had major problems.

There had been many false reports about Decepticons and it was getting frustrating. It was like the entire story of "Cry Wolf" and none of the Autobots were starting to believe it. But they honestly couldn't take that chance and Optimus sent out one or two Autobots to check out the hot spots that Teletraan was constantly sporting out.

There was even a report of how two Cybertronians ripped up a truck stop in Louisiana while fighting.

Again, no one believed it but they didn't want to take that chance. So Optimus sent out Ironhide, Hound and Hot Rod with Lennox and Epps to check it out. They hadn't heard anything else about it, but they were still looking.

During the time that Ironhide, Hound and Hot Rod were out on the Cybertronian search in the South, Sam tried once again to get through to Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee," Sam began one day as he looked down at the yellow Camaro with worry. "You can't keep doing this. I need you. Optimus and the Autobots need you. Please, just talk to me. Do the whole radio thing. Turn on your engine. Do something, Bee. I can't stand here and let you just sit there in solitude any more. Please, Bee. Spitfire would not want you to be like this. She would want you to be out with Optimus Prime and the Autobots, defending Earth from the Decepticons."

But Bumblebee stayed quiet as a dead car.

With his heart very heavy, Sam went back to Optimus, hoping that he could get Bumblebee to do something other than play dead car for the rest of his life. Optimus agreed to try and have another word with Bumblebee but it didn't do very much good. He had tried to even order Bumblebee out of the garage but it didn't seem that the young Scout was listening.

It just added more stress on Optimus' shoulder after he couldn't even get Bumblebee to listen to him. It was no use. No matter what he did or said, Bumblebee seemed to be a lost cause. He wouldn't give up on him, though. He would continue to stop by Sam's house and try to talk some sense into the young Scout, no matter how useless it seemed.

Eventually, someone got very fed up with all of the stress that Bumblebee was putting on Optimus and the others.

 

The garage door flew open with a loud bang and blinding sunlight fell onto the hood of Bumblebee. The young yellow Camaro did not move or make any sound, even as the sunlight blinded him. He just looked sorrowfully up with his hidden eyes at who was invading his exile and saw that it was Reno Banes.

Reno stood in the middle of the garage entry with his fists on his waist and giving Bumblebee a very scolding look. He did not look happy whatsoever that Bumblebee was doing this to all of the Autobots or even to Sam. Behind him sat Optimus Prime in his Semi Truck mode with Sam, Mikaela, Elena, Trent, Ron and Judy Witwicky, and even the Corvette twins. All of them were looking at Bumblebee with solemn looks but were not going to stop Reno from getting on his case.

"All right, you." Reno said in a very stern tone before he stepped forward and swooped down in a crouch in front of Bumblebee's bumper, placing his hand on Bee's hood. "Bumblebee, you have got to stop this. Right. Now. You have got to stop beating yourself up for what happened to Spitfire. I swear, I don't know Spitfire like you do, but I do know that if she saw you like this, she would kick your aft to Cybertron and back." He sighed, shaking his head. "Bumblebee, you have a whole lotta people who are worried about you. Your best friend has been making himself sick by worrying about you. Optimus Prime is worried about you. Ratchet is considering on dragging you right out of this garage by force. I know you are hurting, Bumblebee. I know it's killing you to have lost the one you loved. I know because I went through the very same thing that you did."

Several people lift their heads, frowning in surprise but Mikaela didn't look surprised. She actually lowered her gaze to the ground, looking grave. She only looked up when Sam touched her arm, shaking her head at him.

"Her name," Reno began again. "Her name was Colleena. I met her in high school, which had been in the state of Wyoming at the time. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I fell in love with her the very minute I saw her. We started dating in our Junior year and all through our Senior year. Colleena and I fell in love so deep that we eventually decided to get married once we graduated from High School." He sighed heavily and shook his head. "There was only one problem with that, Bumblebee. Her father did not approve of me. He hated me with everything he had, thinking I was trying to steal his little girl from him and his family. He threatened me that if I married her, he was going to kill me." He laughed softly, shaking his head. "Eventually, Colleena was being forced to make the decision to choose between me and her family. Guess what she chose?"

Bumblebee did not answer but he seemed to be listening because he lift up on his wheels a few inches. It was at least some kind of sign that he was acknowledging Reno for the first time in nearly eight months after Spitfire's death.

"Colleena chose me, Bumblebee. She loved her family so much but she loved me just as much. She wanted to give up her family, be disowned for marrying a poor nearly penniless mechanic like me." Reno answered but shook his head with a very sad look on his face. "Bumblebee, I made a choice and I regret it since the day that I made it. I would not have Colleena give up her family for me. So I broke off the wedding the day before it happened. I told her that I couldn't let her give up her family for me. Her family was everything to her. And I couldn't let her give that up." He lowered his hand and pressed his fingers together, looking directly at the Autobot insignia on the bumper. "It broke Colleena's heart that I left her. It very well nearly shattered her. She was so depressed that she eventually committed suicide right before her father tracked me down in Las Vegas, begging me to return to her and heal her heart. He was willing to let me be with his daughter if it could save her. But it was already too late. He was just barely meeting me when he got the phone call that Colleena took her own life. I've had to live with that horrible memory for nearly twenty years, Bumblebee. I know you're going to live with the memory of Spitfire for the rest of your life, longer than mine. It's something that we regret when the love of our lives meets a horrible end like Colleena or Spitfire. Colleena's twin sister even tracked me down and beat the living Pits out of me for what happened with her sister. I can't say that I blamed her for it. I let her beat me up. But it only made her angrier. It made me angry that I didn't fight for Colleena either. She could have kept her family and we could have been together without any problems if only I fought for her. But I backed down. And now I have to live with this regret for the rest of my life. But you don't, Bumblebee. Spitfire would not want you to be rusting away in this garage when you could be out there, fighting alongside the Autobots against the Decepticons." Reno paused for a moment, before standing straight up and backing up a little. "And you, Bumblebee, are an Autobot. You are a soldier and a warrior. But right now, your behavior is unacceptable. Your Prime needs you, young bot! Now get out of that garage right now and live! That is what Spitfire would want you to do. And you know it. Now what is it going to be, Bumblebee?"

For a very long time, there was a long silence. Bumblebee did not move or do anything but just sat there in that garage.

"Bumblebee," Optimus Prime spoke up from behind Reno. "As your Prime and your friend, I ask you to come out of Sam's garage. You are scaring Sam by staying in there. And you are scaring myself and all of the Autobots. No one wants to see you acting this way. Now, come out of there, Bumblebee."

Another long silence before Bumblebee's engine rumbled to life. He slowly rolled out of the garage until he was sitting right in front of Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena. "I'm sorry, Two words I always think. Oh after you've gone. When I realize I was acting all wrong." Feist's So Sorry came drifting out of Bumblebee's radio before lightly rolling forward and nudging Sam's leg.

Sam smiled faintly before placing his hand on Bumblebee's hood and gently rub it. "It's okay, Bumblebee. I understand why you were acting that way. I don't blame you. I'd probably be the same if it had been Mikaela. Just, please, Bee. Don't scare us like that again. Promise?" He asked gently.

"I….promise you…" came some random words shove together as Bumblebee rolled back a little.

And everyone smiled, feeling somewhat happy that he was finally out of the garage.


	29. Surprise!

There was something up, Optimus thought, as soon as he got the call from Ironhide. He knew that the Weapons Specialist was up to something because he never sounded so optimistic before the call he had just made. There had never been a time did Optimus hear Ironhide sound so cheerful unless it was beating the Pits out of the twins for pulling a prank on him and enjoying it.

But something was up with Ironhide and Optimus really wanted to know.

It was nearly a week since Bumblebee had finally came out of Sam's garage, though it didn't help quite a few nerves because he was still in a very depressed mood. He didn't talk through the radio very much but he did return to driving Sam to school. The air around him though seemed to suck the very life out of everyone. No one could stand being around Bumblebee with all of the depressed sighs and driving so low to the ground that his undercarriage scraped against dips in the road. Nothing seemed to cheer him up at all, no matter what the others tried to do. The twins had tried pulling pranks to make him cheer up. Jazz had blasted awesome music that made everyone want to dance. But that didn't work either. Wheeljack had deliberately blew up one of his inventions, though he had gotten a nice little beating from Ratchet for blowing off his arm. That still didn't work.

Nothing seemed to cheer up Bumblebee, even if he was out and about. Not even Elena's cheerful mood that she had developed. Everyone knew that she was mostly faking it to try and help with Bumblebee, but it still didn't work.

It was now just the beginning of August and school had started back up. Sam, Mikaela and Trent were now Seniors at the Tranquility high school. They were very excited about it, no doubt about that. They were even more excited when Reno announced that there was going to be another car rally and this time, he invited all of the Autobots to go. He was sponsoring it and he even asked Optimus Prime and the Autobots would want to go and they agreed. Optimus figured that they needed to get out and do something anyway. Especially Bumblebee.

So, they were now outside Las Vegas City, enjoying the blasting music, car races and shows and there was even going to be a talent show being put on. That sounded like so much fun that the twins even stated that they wanted to do something in it. They truly believed that they could rock out the entire talent show.

It honestly had some Autobots and humans worried, hoping that they wouldn't do something too stupid just for laughs.

But either way, Optimus had told Bumblebee that he was to go with them, even if he didn't want to. He needed to get out some more anyway and this was the perfect day to do it. Bumblebee wasn't too happy about it but he didn't argue with Optimus. He just kept the radio off and he took Sam to the car rally.

On the way, Optimus had gotten the call from Ironhide stating that he, Hot Rod and Hound were on their way back to Nevada from Montana. And the way that Ironhide was talking, it was like they had found something very interesting but he sure wasn't saying. Even when the Autobot Leader asked for his report. So, it couldn't be helped that Optimus was a little suspicious by the time he disconnected with Ironhide.

The car rally was a huge hit. There were hundreds of styles of cars all over the place and even more people. They had a large stage set up where musicians were performing and rocking out the place. It was very exciting. Most of the Autobots stayed near one another, with only their holoforms wandering around. The only downside to it, Bumblebee was just sitting on his own hood, looking depressed as ever. Sam and Mikaela stayed with him to keep him company. It was pretty sad to think that he wasn't going to do anything.

Eventually, Trent walked over, grinning after checking out some nice cars. "Hey, guys." He said before leaning against Bumblebee's hood, who only glanced up at him before going back to staring at the ground. "They got some really hot cars here. There was a Lamborghini and the new Ferrari over on the west side of the car show. They were nice." He then shrugged. "And you should have seen the size of this huge red Semi truck that just pulled in. It's way over there though."

Sam and Mikaela frowned before looking to where Trent was pointing. They didn't see it at first but then they spotted a huge red truck just sitting on the farthest side of the entire rally. It was parked next to a fire engine and an interesting black and pink car. It was nearly as tall as the fire engine and that's what made the couples' mouths fall open.

"Whoa! That thing is bigger than Optimus!" Sam said in awe.

"Are you kidding, Sam? That's a 2010 Mack Titan. Of course it's bigger than Optimus. He's a Peterbilt. Macks tend to be pretty big." Mikaela said before whistling a little as she eyed the black and pink car. "But that sure is a nice looking Bugatti Veyron. The paint job is pretty sweet."

Sam shrugged before frowning as he watched a tall sandy haired man climb out of the truck, along with a young teen boy. He watched them for a moment before his eyes lit up in surprise. Especially when the boy turned around the corner of the truck, looking quite moody. The reason being; he didn't have a left arm. "Oh, man." He murmured in alarm. He glanced over at Mikaela and Trent and noticed that they had seen the boy's missing left arm. "Oh, jeeze. That's got to suck really bad for him."

Trent nodded with a rather troubled look on his face. "Jeeze, I wonder what happened to his arm. How did he even lose it?" he asked, before yelping when Mikaela swung both hands and smacked him and Sam. "Ow! Mikaela! What was that for?"

Mikaela gave her friend and boyfriend a stern look. "Quit staring, guys! It's rude to stare! Besides, there's already too many people staring at him and I'm sure it's bugging him." She then brightened and waved just as the electric blue Porsche, big black Topkick truck and the metallic green Jeep Wrangler pulled up. "Hey! They're back!" She said brightly.

All Autobot and human heads turned to watch as the three Autobots slowed to a stop right next to them before Lennox and Epps hopped out. They were joined by Ironhide, Hound and Hot Rod's holoforms, all smiling as they were greeted by their fellow Autobots and friends. What made everyone rather nervous was the wide smile spread across Ironhide's face. It was enough to make some of the Autobots step back, looking at him with alarm. They had never seen Ironhide smile like that. It was like he knew something that they didn't.

"Uh, Hide. Why are you smiling like that?" Sideswipe asked, looking at the Weapons Specialist's human form. He was trying to scoot behind Sunstreaker, as if trying to hide from Ironhide. But the lighter haired twin reached around and lightly shoved his brother away.

Ironhide continued to grin like the devil, himself. He just folded his large sized arms across his chest and shook his head. "Oh, no reason at all. I'm just glad to be back off that Pit forsaken road trip that we were sent on. If I had to listen to Hound's Country music any longer, I would have started blowing things up." He said, making a face as he shot the cowboy looking human form of Hound, who gave him a reproachful look.

Of course, some of the Autobots didn't believe him. Ratchet folded his own arms and tilted his head to the side. "Uh-huh." He muttered. "Why don't you tell us what you're really hiding, Ironhide? Did you blow someone up or something?"

Again, Ironhide smiled a devilish grin and shook his head. "Nope. I'm not hiding anything." He paused as if adding a secret thought to himself before looking over at Hot Rod as he high fived with Trent before getting one from each of the twins. They were sure glad to be around each other again. And it gave the Weapon Specialist an idea. "Sides, Sunny, get over here for a minute." He called to the twins.

Sides and Sunny both grimaced as they looked wide eyed at Ironhide before sighing and starting to walk over to him. "Aw, man. What did we do now?" the darker haired twin grumbled before flinching a little when the grumpy Ironhide swung an arm around each of their necks, dragging them a little ways from everyone else. They were, obviously, whispering to one another, trying to keep everyone else from hearing them. They didn't even pay any attention to the suspicious looks that followed them, while they tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. It didn't particularly work. They couldn't hear a word.

But no one liked the twin evil grins that spread out on Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's faces.

Optimus frowned before looking directly at Hot Rod and Hound, who were both shrugging at him as if they didn't know what Ironhide was planning with the twins. So he looked at Lennox and Epps instead, who were both smiling as they greeted the teenagers. "Major Lennox? Can I ask you what you did find on your surveillance mission?" He asked, carefully.

Lennox looked at him before shaking his head as he smiled. "Nothing really, Optimus. We did find the truck stop in Louisiana. It was ripped up pretty bad as if there had been a battle. But there wasn't any sign of any Cybers. If they were there, they were long gone." He told him with a shrug. "We checked around but didn't find anything."

Sighing, Optimus nodded. He wasn't too sure if he believed it coming from Ironhide but he didn't think he could doubt Lennox's word. So he would drop it for now.

"Hey, Hot Rod." Sam asked, carefully as he eyed Ironhide having his little mutterings with the twins. "What is it that you guys did find?"

Hot Rod made a tight smile before shaking his head. "We didn't find anything, Sam, my man! Scout's honor!" He said, holding up two fingers and looking innocent as ever.

"Uh, Rod. You're not a Scout. You're a Changer. Nor were you ever in the scouts. And we know you're up to something. So spill it." Arcee said sternly folding her arms across her chest. Hot Rod cleared his throat, now looking quite nervous. He looked around as if looking for some kind of excuse of any kind. And the look that Arcee was giving him wasn't helping his nerves one single bit. "Come on, Rod. Tell us what you're up to."

Again, Hot Rod continued to look around before his eyes lit up. "Oh! You know what! I'm going to go look at some of the hot cars they have here! They look sweet!" He said, though that just made Arcee glare harder at him. He cleared his throat before booking for his real body and diving inside. The Porsche was quickly driving away with a glaring Arcee staring after him.

"Don't worry, Arcee. I'm sure it's nothing to be too worried about. Rod adores you." Sam said, almost weakly. He was trying to help soothe her anger, since it was obvious that she was ticked off.

Mikaela made a face as she eyed her Guardian with a little worry. She knew that there was nothing that Rod would ever do to compromise his relationship with Arcee. But he sure did a lot of stupid things that she didn't like. She knew that if he wasn't careful, he was going to do something so stupid that Arcee might just offline him, herself. She chose not to dwell on it too long because she spotted a brightly beaming Elena walking up, hugging a clipboard to herself. She had to smile and raise an eyebrow when she noticed how pink her blonde friend was. It was like she had just met an extremely cute guy.

Thus, Elena answered that before anyone could even ask.

"Oh. My. GOD!" Elena squealed as she walked straight up to Sam, Mikaela and Trent, getting very interested looks from some of the Autobots in the process. "You will not believe this! But I just met the cutest boy I had ever seen!"

Trent gave his cousin a very suspicious look as he shifted his weight. "Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked, almost sternly.

Elena ignored him while she looked straight at Mikaela, who was smiling curiously at her. She just put a dreamy look on her face and waved a hand as if fanning herself. "Oh, Mikaela! You should have seen him! He was so adorable! I went up to ask him if he wanted to be in the talent show and he just stared at me! He was so flustered and adorable! He couldn't even speak straight! It was so cute how he was just so shy and everything! And it was even cuter when his dad, at least I think he was his dad, told me to enter him in the talent show any way! He was so embarrassed and flustered and it was just so, so cute!" She squealed happily.

Mikaela laughed along with Sam while Trent eyed Elena with a very disapproving look. He was clearly not happy to hear that a guy had caught his cousin's attention. "So who is this guy that I get to threaten?" He asked darkly.

Now, Elena shot him a narrow eyed dark look as if daring him to think about it. "Oh, don't you dare, Trenton! He was nervous enough! People wouldn't stop staring at him because of his disadvantage! There were tons of people who were being rude and it was making him anxious! I could tell! So don't you even think about going up to Rex and threatening him! Cause if you do, I will kick your butt, myself! I may be smaller than you, but I will do it!" She warned him.

"Rex? Was that his name?" Mikaela asked, trying to ease up the tension between the cousins.

Again, Elena looked at her with a dreamy smile and nodded. "He's so cute, Mikaela. You should definitely meet him. You would think so too." She told her.

"Disadvantage?" Sam asked curiously. "What disadvantage did he have?"

Shaking her head, Elena glanced at him before giving Trent another warning look for looking at her the way he was. She knew that he wasn't impressed that she had found a guy that interested her. "Well, it's sad really. But that's not why I like him. I don't feel sorry for him…well, maybe I do feel a little sorry for him. But he's really cute and all." She sighed, lowering the clipboard a little. "His name is Rex Rory and he doesn't have a left arm. He must have lost it earlier in his life. I don't know how but I'm so not going to ask unless he wants to tell me. He's going to be in the talent show and I can so tell he's got a voice in him."

"What? The armless kid with that huge monster red Mack?" Trent burst out.

Raising an eyebrow and giving her older cousin a very dark look, Elena nodded. "Ye-ah. So what? You got a problem with him, Trent? Because I sure don't have a problem with him. He was cute and he seemed really nice. If you think about being mean to him because…" She was saying.

Quickly, Trent rose his hands in his own defense. He didn't want to keep getting nagged at by Elena. He knew that she could prattle on until his ears bled if she wanted to.

But before anyone could say anything else, they heard a splash and then a very loud honk went off. It made the teens and anyone standing around them jump and swing around to see what was going on. Everyone ended up staring with surprise when they heard quite the mouthful coming right out of Ratchet's mouth as he shouted at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The twins were nearly doubled over and laughing so hard that even their real bodies were shaking a little. In both of their hands, they held a big dripping bucket, proving that they had just dumped water all over Ratchet and his human form.

And if looks could kill, the twins would have dropped dead right where they stood, that is if they didn't die of laughing first.

"Oooh!" Elena suddenly burst out a few moments later and pointed towards the stage just as Reno was making an announcement about who was up next. She was smiling brightly and lightly tapping Mikaela's shoulder to get her attention. "There he is! There he is! The cutie I told you about!" She said brightly.

Sam, Mikaela and Trent all turned and looked towards the stage to see the young teenage boy without a left arm climbing onto it, along with Hot Rod and the sandy haired man. All of them had to frown to see the Spy Changer going up with the boy that Elena called Rex. They even glanced at one another with curious frowns on their faces. "Hey, what's Hot Rod doing up there?" Trent asked. All of the Autobots seemed to have heard and they, too, looked up to see their young Soldier moving towards the front of the stage with the boy and the man. They couldn't help but stare with surprise and curiosity.

All around them, people were applauding to be polite but when the boy stepped away from his possible father, the crowd nearly went dead when they saw his lost left arm. The boy looked directly at the man beside him, almost giving him a reproachful look. He did not look happy at all.

"GO, REX! WHOO-HOOO!" Someone shouted from the crowd and everyone turned to see a young man jumping up and down on a car.

But what surprised everyone was that he was not the only one. Hound, Lennox and Epps were doing the same, yelling to the boy and cheering him on as if they knew him. They sure brought a big smile on the boy's face.

"Go, Rex! Go!" Elena cheered, jumping and down from beside Sam, Mikaela and Trent and getting some very interesting smiles from them.

And then the boy started to sing the Disney song, Zippa Dee Do Da.

The crowd went wild as soon as he started singing with Hot Rod backing him up as the vocals. The man soon joined in with the chorus and they were sure rocking out the entire arena. Nearly everyone in the crowd started dancing to the song while the boy sang. They all had to admit it, but the boy was good. Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena glanced over to see Jazz was dancing wildly near his real body, along with the twins and Arcee. But when they noticed that Bumblebee was the only one who was still in a slump, Sam sighed heavily.

"I wish Bumblebee would join us." He murmured softly.

Mikaela and Trent both gave Sam a sympathetic look before sharing the same look for Bumblebee. They looked back at the stage just as three very gorgeous women joined Hot Rod, the boy and the man on the stage. They were definitely quite the lookers. There were cat whistles and wolf calls to them as they danced around the boy before kissing him on the cheek, making him blush. It was enough to make everyone in the crowd cheer again and the Autobots smile.

But then a very familiar voice joined in with the song just as a very familiar red haired girl stepped out from behind the stage, singing along with the boy.

Several loud honks went off as the familiar young woman startled each and every one of the Autobots and even the humans who didn't know she was there. They each recognized that voice and its owner as she stood right next to the boy.

"Spitfire!" Elena screamed in surprise, slapping her hands over her mouth as her eyes shimmered with tears.

No one could believe their eyes. They couldn't believe that Spitfire was actually alive and she was right there in front of them with the boy. But one thing was for sure, every human and Autobot head spun around on their shoulders to look directly at Bumblebee to see his reaction. And his reaction was not coming as a surprise.

As soon as Spitfire had started to sing or even showed up on the stage, the young Scout shot up straight and looked wide eyed towards her. He couldn't believe his eyes any more than anyone else. He did not hesistate one more second as he shot to his feet and ran towards the stage, pushing through the crowd. He didn't seem to hear Sam call after him. It wasn't a second later before Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena were quickly following him, along with the Autobots' human forms. They needed to find out if it really was Spitfire.

And sure enough, as soon as Bumblebee approached the stage, Spitfire walked up to the edge and beckoned him forward. She, with Hot Rod, reached out and took Bumblebee's hands and helped him up. He didn't pause for a second to throw his arms around her and swing her around before giving her a kiss. That was enough to make the crowd go wilder.

For the last bit of the song, Bumblebee actually joined in dancing with Spitfire, bouncing and hopping to the music until it ended.

The audience was clapping hard and cheering for the boy, who just watched Bumblebee and Spitfire with a big smile on his face. He looked very happy to see the two together. It was like he knew who they were and he knew everything.

But when one of the gorgeous women, a very pretty Asian walked towards the edge, he and several others turned to watch as she approached Optimus as he stood at the stage. She was smiling knowingly at him, looking at him with such a strange look. Sam, Mikaela, Elena and Trent watched with interest as she crouched down right in front of the Autobot Leader, who was looking up at her with interest but confusion.

For a long moment, Optimus Prime stared up at the woman, who was smiling coyly at him. He didn't seem to know her at all. He almost even asked if there was something wrong that might have made her smile like that.

"Hello, Optimus Prime." The woman spoke in a beautiful voice.

Blinking in surprise, Optimus stared at her in bewilderment before that look vanished and a look of shock replaced it. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe what his sensors was telling him. He could only stare at the woman in alarm and shock. "El-Elita One?" He asked almost breathlessly.

The woman smiled brightly before swept her own feet out from under her and threw her arms around Optimus neck, letting him catch her around the waist. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her firmly against him as he buried his face right into her neck. He didn't seem to realize that quite a few people were staring at them with shock. And he certainly didn't care. All that mattered to him was having this beautiful woman back in his arms where she belonged.

"Wh-what the…..! Who is that?" Sam asked in shock as he watched Optimus pull back a little before pressing his forehead against the womans.

He, with all of his friends looked up at Ironhide as he stepped up right next to them, looking almost proudly at the pair. He was smiling a genuine smile, bobbing his head up and down. "That, Sam, is Elita One. Optimus Prime's sparkmate. Leader of the femme Autobots." He told him.

"What?" Sam, Mikaela and Trent gasped while Elena was too busy smiling brightly up at Spitfire, who paid notice to her now. "But I thought she was dead!"

"She's got a very interesting story to tell everyone." Hound added as he smiled brightly from beside the twins. "And it makes sense if you think about it."

"Ironhide!"

Everyone looked up just as one of the other beautiful women ran to the edge of the stage and jumped right at Ironhide, who didn't have a problem catching her. They both grinned at one another as they held one another. Again, everyone stared in shock. Especially when Ironhide kissed the woman, furiously.

"Chromia! Moonracer!" Arcee said cheerfully looking from Ironhide's woman to the other on the stage. She rushed right up to both of them and they hugged one another. "My sisters! You're here! I can't believe it!"

Chromia and Moonracer both smiled as they kept their arms around Arcee, almost bouncing up and down with her. It was interesting to see how happy all three of them looked. They were so happy to be together again after so long.

It was not long after before the introductions came.

All of the Autobots and the humans moved to a secluded area to greet all of the new coming Autobots who rolled over to them. It was a surprise to see that the huge red Semi Truck was one of them. He was called Ultra Magnus and he apparently happened to be Optimus Prime's older spark brother.

Along with them, was a Dodge Charger Police cruiser, whose name was Prowl; and Jazz was very happy to see him. Everyone had recalled that he was coming. They had heard it from Wheeljack that he had been with the serious Autobot officer but they were seperated on their way to Earth. They just didn't expect to hear that he had met up with Elita One and her convoy of Autobots on the way.

There was a silver Nissan Juke named Quick Change with them and he had a partner who served as his radio system named Shuttershot. Not very many of the Autobots were too happy to see him though. The humans eventually learned from Ironhide that Quick Change earned his namesake by his sudden mood changes and quick to jumping to everything. He had a bad habit of jumping to conclusions or losing his temper, which was pretty bad. He was quick at everything that he dealt with.

The large fire truck was Inferno. He apparently was a gunner like Ironhide, yet he specialized in fiery weapons and fire control; thus the decision to be a fire engine. He even seemed to have the same personality wise as Ironhide; a little grumpy and a bad attitude.

A red Avalanche Search and Rescue truck was Red Alert, who had been under the assumption that he was dead along with Elita one. There was only one thing that everyone learned about him that had them a little uneasy. He, apparently, was quite paranoid. He was constantly glancing around, as if waiting for a Decepticon to show up and attack. He would give a little jerk when someone spoke to him, as if startled. He was sure eyeing some of the humans with unease but he would relax again when Optimus spoke quietly to him.

And the last but not least, there was a cheetah with them. He was claimed to be a Maximal, an animalistic Autobot who took the form of an animal; a Cheetah, obviously. And his name was Cheetor. He was quite the interesting and very cheerful fellow. He was very friendly and always talking in a speedy way. He sure greeted Bumblebee cheerfully, as if they had been good friends before and still were.

Everyone was happy to see that all of the new Autobots were there. Especially seeing Optimus with Elita one and Bumblebee with Spitfire. They had all been reunited and it was making everyone happy again. Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena were just so happy that the fiery red femme had returned. They had thought they would never see her again. So of course, they bombarded her with questions of what happened to her and how she managed to survive the explosion with Catactlysm.

Of course, that was when Spitfire turned grim and looked directly to Optimus. She definitely had something to say.

"When I exploded with Catactlysm, I was nearly in complete shut down. I should be in complete shut down right now. But I suppose that a part of my spark didn't want to give up and go into oblivion. Somehow, it was still in tact when Starscream found me." Spitfire nodded when everyone looked at her in surprise. She understood why they looked so alarmed. "I was in so many pieces, Optimus Prime, sir. Even some of my parts drifted off into space. Most of them did. I wasn't even aware of anything while I was in stasis lock. When I even came back online, I found myself in a very isolated warehouse in Canada. Starscream had found my spark chamber and most of my parts and put me back together. He had to substitute many of the missing pieces but it was he who revived me." She shook her head when Optimus gave her a serious but prying look. "I don't know why Starscream did it, sir. Not after what I did to him so I could destroy Catactlysm. I had expected him to be too angry to do anything for me. I think he was still pretty sour about it. But he didn't do anything to show it. He mostly glared at me. I even asked him why he fixed me and he just told me that he wasn't finished with me. He wouldn't tell me what he meant but he let me go." She looked over at Elita One and the other Autobots that had arrived with them. "I was on my way back to you and the others when I was found by Elita One and the others. They were lost and looking for you. So I lead them here." She told everyone.

Elita One nodded as she kept an arm around Optimus' waist, looking around at everyone. "Believe me, we were all very hesistant about Spitfire. Prowl, Inferno and Chromia took her arrival the hardest and they didn't welcome her for a very long time. Neither did Quick Change. They wouldn't trust her, even if I did. But everyone wanted to find you and the others. We were kind of desperate to find all of you and Spitfire swore on the name if Primus she knew where you were." She told them.

"Elita One," Mikaela said carefully. She was going to ask the one thing that everyone had been thinking about. "How is it you're alive? We were all told that you had died when….well, when Spitfire betrayed all of you."

Elita One just smiled as she glanced over at Spitfire, who shared a meek smile with her. She merely shrugged before she turned towards her pink and black vehicle form and got into it. She motioned for all of them to crowd around her, which they carefully did. Optimus, of course, was the closest to her, leaning onto her real form with one arm on the roof. "In all honesty, I was dead. And so was Red Alert. It's a little strange and hard to explain in the terms for humans to understand. But the best way I can say," She looked around at everyone then paused to look at Optimus as she got into her dashboard compartment and pulled out a very strange looking device. It was about a foot long and several inches wide with a pair of pyramid shaped tips on each end. It was completely made out of silver with a strange blue glow in the very center. Quite a few Autobots drew a sharp breath of surprise as soon as they saw it; Optimus being included. "I believe when the All Spark was used to destroy Megatron, a part of its energy was attracted back to Cybertron to alert the Matrix of Leadership that it had been destroyed. According to Spitfire, Optimus had left it with my body and when the All Spark's energy connected with it, the Matrix of Leadership jump started my spark. It revived me out of eternal recharge. It took me some time to understand what had happened but eventually I used some of its energy, when it allowed me, to revive Red Alert and a few other Autobots that had perished on Cybertron." She smiled as she held it out to Optimus. "This belongs to you, Optimus. I only thought I should return it." She told him.

Optimus just smiled as he reached out and lightly pushed it back towards her. "You hold onto it for awhile, Elita. I gave it to you for a reason. All I ever wanted was to have you back." He told her.

Elita smiled right back before she reached up and grabbed his shirt, pulling him into a kiss. Several of the girls awed while the men just chuckled or grinned. They were just glad to see Optimus so happy again. Then the Femme Leader looked back around until her eyes looked kindly at Ultra Magnus, Cheetor and the boy, Rex Rory, smiling fondly at them. "Anyway, eventually we met up with Cheetor and Rex. They had some pretty disturbing news for us about Ultra Magnus."

Everyone else frowned and Optimus looked directly at his older brother for the answer. But Ultra Magnus looked grave as Death, itself. "Brother? What was it?" The Autobot Leader asked, frowning almost seriously, sensing that he was not about to like what his older brother was going to say.

"Optimus," Ultra Magnus began, keeping a long arm draped around Rex's shoulder, who was looking rather serious, himself. "We may have a problem with some humans. Have you ever heard of a secret Government group called the Department? Or Sector Three?"

And the way he sounded, it was not good at all.


	30. Epilogue: Dawn Adams

It was only weeks later since Spitfire, Elita One and many of the other Autobots had returned to Optimus Prime and the others. They had had quite the excitement over those weeks, including the situation with the boy, Rex Rory.

It had been apparent that he had run away from home in Alabama to help Ultra Magnus find Optimus and the Autobots. They had quite the adventure while on the road and it was revealed that Teletraan had been picking up Magnus' signature the entire time. And he hadn't been the only one. According to the largest Autobot out of the entire lot, Nemesis Strika, a very dangerous Decepticon femme was on Earth and had been tracking him. It was revealed that she had an enormous grudge against Ultra Magnus, due to the fact that he nearly offlined her sparkmate, a Decepticon named Oblivion. She hated the Autobot enough to threaten Rex Rory's life, giving Magnus a big reason to keep the boy with him.

Eventually, he was to be returned to his family.

However, things had been a little more serious than everyone had thought. Because Rex had run away from home, the Child Services had been informed and they had intended to take him away from his family and place him into a foster care home.

No one was happy to hear that. Not even Optimus. But they couldn't say anything to make things all right. They actually left that up to Robert Epps to do. He spoke up in defense for Rex and offered his home as Rex's foster home. And with a little help from Optimus talking to Hound and quickly entering Epps' name in the foster care program through Hound's connection to the World Wide Web, Rex was now living happily with Robert and Monique Epps as their foster child. Ratchet and Wheeljack even worked together to create an artificial but rather efficient mechanical arm for the boy so he would have two hands instead of one. The boy swore he was never more happy than he was without the Autobots being in his life.

Especially when he got along very well with Elena Lincoln. There was definitely some chemistry between the two young human teenagers.

As it was, things did have the Autobots and the humans on edge. The Decepticons were being extremely quiet and there hadn't been a sign of them anywhere. They weren't doing anything and it was making everyone feel very uneasy. They weren't sure what Megatron or Starscream had planned or if they had anything planned at all. They had been lying low and it was making everyone a little uneasy.

Eventually, right after Elita One had given Optimus Prime the Matrix of Leadership back, it was revealed that there was very little Decepticon activity going on in Mexico.

So not wanting to take the chance, Optimus arranged for Ultra Magnus to lead a small team of Autobots down to Mexico to observe what was going on. Spitfire, however, was one of them to go with him. She and Bumblebee wasn't too happy about that but as long as she came back to him all right, they were fine with it. So far, they hadn't found any of the Decepticons, other than some of the Seekers flying over head. But they never had to engage with them. So the Autobot squad was to stay in Mexico until they knew what the Decepticons were up to. The only answers they had gotten were that Megatron was still trying to recover from his nearly yearlong stasis lock.

Along with that, the Matrix of Leadership was starting to vibrate a little, announcing only to Optimus Prime that there may have been a newly created All Spark somewhere on Earth. It seemed that when the All Spark had been destroyed, it had refused to be completely distinguished. By the looks of it, the All Spark was starting to reform somewhere in the Eastern part of the world. He was trying to look into it, but it wasn't something that was easily found. So he was mostly having Jetfire doing a worldwide search to see if he could find any All Spark energy at all. He wasn't having much luck with that.

As it was, Sam, Mikaela and Trent were back in school after everything happened. People still couldn't figure out what happened between the two young men. They were scratching their heads, trying to figure out why they were friends now when all they ever did was give each other hell after Mikaela broke up with Trent and went for Sam. It was definitely a mystery that everyone was trying to figure out. But so far, they weren't having much luck. And not everyone seemed to care. Because Trent was starting to hang out with Sam, some of his friends started to and they began to realize that he wasn't all that bad. They actually found him kind of cool. Trent's other friends, mostly the other jocks, weren't ones who didn't find Sam at all acceptable and they tend to give their former football playing star a hard time for deciding to quit football. No one was too happy at all about his choice. But it wasn't like they could demand him to change his mind.

Still, no one knew what was in store for them in the future. The Autobots and their humans were searching for the All Spark energy and were keeping an eye out for the Decepticons. Not to mention, they now had to deal with this new threat called the Department or Sector Three. They were all finding that they had their hands full with situations popping out of nowhere.

If only they could prepare for what would happen next.

 

It was a Thursday in November when something happened that would change Sam, Mikaela, Trent and even Sideswipe's life.

 

"Hey, guys!" Trent said, jogging up to Sam and Mikaela as they were talking to a rather uneasy looking Miles Lancaster, who was one of Sam's weird friends. He was very odd to Trent but he didn't mind him because he was friends with Sam. Trent ignored the uneasy look that he got from Miles as he greeted Sam with a fist bump. "How's it?"

Sam and Mikaela both smiled at Trent before shaking their heads. "Same as always, Trent. Just trying to wake up in the morning for school." The pretty dark haired girl told him.

Trent nodded as he glanced at Bumblebee and gave him a smile. He wouldn't say anything to the young Autobot Scout, due to Miles standing next to them. He knew very well that the weird kid didn't know a thing about the Camaro's true nature. He glanced around before shrugging. "Yeah, same here. I can't wait till we're out of this place though. High School is starting to get old." He remarked.

With a shrug, Sam nodded. "Yeah. I know what you mean. But it is our Senior year. I guess we should make the most of it while we still can. It won't be long at all for when we do graduate. Plus who knows how many….." He paused, glancing down at Bumblebee and making a face. "….uh, interruptions we'll have during our last year."

Both Mikaela and Trent made faces as they thought about it, while Miles was clueless as ever. They knew exactly what Sam meant. They weren't too sure what would happen during their last year of high school. If it being the Decepticons or the new human threat from the Department. They were completely confused of what the Department wanted with the Cybertronians; Autobots and Decepticons, seeing that they had also attacked the Decepticon called Nemesis Strika. That was another thing that bothered all of them. They weren't too keen on the idea of more Decepticons arriving on Earth. It was making the Autobots edgier than they already were.

"Hey, Trent!"

All four of the teens, and the hidden eyes of the Autobot turned to see one of Trent's friends, waving over at the former jock. They merely grimaced though. This particular guy wasn't exactly the best friend that Trent could have.

His name was James Westley and he was definitely a jerk. He had been one of Trent's best friends before he started hanging out with Sam and Mikaela. He definitely didn't approve of Trent's friendship with a total geek but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. He didn't even hide the fact that he disliked Sam. And he definitely hadn't approved the fact that Trent had quit football, even though he had become the new Quarterback. He bragged about it a lot and It sometimes annoyed Trent, more than it did Sam and Mikaela. But they had been friends for a long time and he didn't see why he should let it end. The keyword being yet.

Westley was waving at Trent to walk over as if he needed to talk to him. Trent sighed quietly to himself before glancing over at Sam and Mikaela. "Sorry, guys. I'll see you guys in class." He told them before jogging towards his old friends.

"I really do not like that guy." Sam murmured, shaking his head.

Mikaela gently placed a hand onto his shoulder and shook her head as she gave him a light shake. "I know. But Trent wants to stay friends with him and sooner or later, he's going to see what kind of jerk he really is. We'll just have to wait and see when it happens." She told him.

Sam just nodded as he watched as Trent started talking to Westley before frowning when the new Quarterback started grinning and motioning to somewhere else. He narrowed his eyes, just as Trent had and turned his head to see where he was pointing at. He wasn't too sure, but he believed that Westley was pointing at a girl that was sitting at one of the outdoor tables, sketching in a notebook. She was somewhat facing them, her head coming up now and then. He wasn't sure if she was glancing towards him, Mikaela, Miles and Bumblebee. But there was something familiar about her.

"Hey, Mikaela." Sam murmured, nudging his girlfriend. He nodded towards the brown haired girl at the table, who kept on with her sketch. "Do you know who that is?"

Mikaela frowned as she looked towards the girl before shaking her head. "No. I'm not sure if I do. Well…..she looks familiar. I think she's in my art class. She sits right behind me but I don't know her name." She told him.

"Oh, that?" Miles suddenly perked up as he looked at the girl. "That's the Doughnut girl. She works at Krispy Kreme. I think her name is Denise or Danielle or maybe it was Dawn. I can't remember. I know everyone calls her by her last name. I think it was Adams or something like that. She's really antisocial. She has no friends and I think she's Emo. She's got a bunch of scars all over her arms and everything. She's probably a cutter. She's so weird and spooky."

Sam and Mikaela just frowned as they glanced at him then shared their own glance. "She doesn't look Emo. I thought Emos wore all black and looked extremely depressing. She looks normal to me." Sam remarked before narrowing his eyes. "You know. That name sounds really familiar. I think I've heard it before…"

"Oh, my gawd!" Mikaela suddenly burst out.

The reason being, there was a football flying right through the air towards the girl. It had obviously came from the direction that Westley and Trent was in. It sailed pretty quickly through the air before slamming into the back of the girl's head, causing her to yelp loudly almost as if she was a puppy who just got smacked for no reason. She sat there, stunned and dwindling on the edge of her seat for a few seconds before she fell backwards onto the concrete.

Swearing, Sam quickly withdrew his arm around Mikaela and shoved himself off of Bumblebee, who's radio system was sprouting out several crude songs, no doubt being pointed at Westley, who was laughing his butt off with the rest of the student body in the parking lot. He heard Miles snort with laughter and shot him a look. "Don't you dare laugh, Miles! That was extremely rude! She could be hurt!" He snapped before racing across the parking lot to reach the girl.

Mikaela was shouting several choice words at Westley, who was still laughing. She had given Trent a warning look but she noticed that he wasn't laughing at all. He looked torn between being very uneasy and highly annoyed as he looked at his former best friend. He wasn't sure if he should ignore what Westley had just done or shove him hard and yell at him.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Sam quickly asked as he dropped down beside the girl and placed a hand onto her shoulder.

The girl's eyes snapped wide open as if she was completely shocked that he, Sam Witwicky, was even talking to her. And for a moment, she just laid there before she tried to sit up, only to fall backwards, groaning as her head clearly spun around. Sam quickly placed a hand onto her back, trying to help her sit up. Both he and Mikaela asked the girl if she was okay again, only getting a rather un-nerved look from her.

And that was how they met Dawn Jade Adams, who would catch the Spark of a certain double-blade wielding Autobot by name of Sideswipe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued….


End file.
